District Attorney to Seek Death Penalty for 3 in San Angelo Capital Murder Case

On Aug. 31, 2015, at approximately 4:05 a.m., four suspects forced entry into 69-year-old William Valdez’s home, demanding money before they shot him. The gunshot caused severe injury to Valdez, and resulted in the loss of a kidney, spinal chord injury and a perforated colon. Valdez succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 16.

The four suspects involved in the case, Elisa Victoria Losoya, 29, Eric Martinez, 26, Fernando Lavaris, 29, and Jonathan Marin, 27, all from San Angelo, were arrested for the crime and indicted on Nov. 23, 2015 for Capital Murder by Terror Threat.

Last month, on April 5, 2016, 51^st District Attorney Allison Palmer submitted the State of Texas’ Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty should Losoya, Lavaris and Marin be found guilty. On Nov. 23, 2015, Palmer submitted the State’s intent to waive the death penalty on Martinez.

According to court documents, during the early morning hours of Aug. 31, William’s son, G. Valdez, heard his dog barking and someone banging on his sliding glass door. G. Valdez went outside to the front yard and observed Losoya in the driveway. Losoya approached G. Valdez and told him they needed to talk.

“[G. Valdez] was fearful and retreated back inside the house to call police,” said the complaint. “[He] locked the front door. [He] heard [the] sliding glass door being broken into as he entered his bedroom.”

At that point, G. Valdez closed his bedroom door and heard the front door being kicked open. He heard a male voice ask, “Where’s the money?” The man also warned, “Do not call the police.”

That’s when G. Valdez heard gunshots in his father’s bedroom. Because he was fearful of being shot, G. Valdez waited before exiting his bedroom.

“[G. Valdez] observed the back door open and believed [Losoya] and an unknown male had fled through [it],” read the complaint.

G. Valdez found his father on the floor by his bed, and stayed with him until SAPD officers arrived. The complaint notes that William Valdez had been shot under his left arm, approximately 4-6 inches from his armpit. When officers arrived, they assisted William with his gunshot injury and transported him to Shannon Hospital for emergency surgery.

Later, G. Valdez was presented with a composed photo lineup and positively identified Losoya, who “frequents his game room (Silver Sweeps) businesses.”

G. Valdez believes, based on the unknown male’s statement referencing money, that a robbery attempt had taken place.

In addition to William’s injuries, Detective Jason Chegwidden and SAPD Crime Scene personnel recovered a bullet and bullet fragments from the scene. Additionally, two 9mm casings were recovered.

Losoya, Lavaris and Marin will be the first capital murder suspects to face the death penalty in Tom Green County in almost 17 years.

The last individual to face the death penalty in Tom Green County was Luis Ramirez, who was sentenced to death by a jury on May 14, 1999 for the murder of San Angelo Firefighter Nemecio Nandin. He was executed Oct. 20, 2005 (read more here).

At the time, in regards to the death penalty, Palmer said, “We have to do what we believe is the right thing; we do what we believe justice dictates, and we try to stay with what we believe our community standards have been."

Recently, Palmer stated she will not confer with San Angelo LIVE! on any of her cases; however, she acknowledged the rise in capital murders since 2013 previously, and said execution will always remain an option in capital murder cases unless repealed by the Texas Legislature.