By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Testimony began Monday in the retrial of Freddy Villanueva, who stands accused of murder in the 2019 death of Del Rioan Manuel Sanchez.
After a jury of nine men and three women was seated Monday, the trial began with opening statements from District Attorney Suzanne West, representing the state, and San Antonio attorney Sylvia Cavazos, representing Villanueva. State’s attorney Josh Somers, a member of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, is assisting West.
Villanueva was initially tried on the murder charge in October, but after lengthy deliberations, jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the charge, and Senior District Judge Sid L. Harle declared a mistrial. Harle is also presiding over the retrial.
Villanueva and three co-defendants – Mario Rivera-Vasquez, Kelvin Brown and Lennox Matthews – were accused of murder and tampering with evidence after police investigated the death of Del Rioan Manuel Sanchez in March 2019.
Sanchez was found dead in the back seat area of his own car, which had been parked behind a neighborhood tire shop off Las Vacas Street in south Del Rio on the morning of March 24, 2019, according to testimony presented during the first trial. Several witnesses during that trial said Sanchez had been attacked by Villanueva and was then beaten unconscious by Vasquez and Brown, while all the men were at Villanueva’s mother’s home.
Sometime later, Villanueva, still reportedly unconscious after the beating, was stuffed into the back of his own car, which Rivera-Vasquez then drove to the tire shop.
Jurors on Monday and Tuesday heard testimony from Mario Aguirre, the owner of Mario’s Tire Shop, 1412 Las Vacas St., who discovered Sanchez’s vehicle on the premises and called police.
Jurors also heard testimony from Del Rio Police Department Senior Officer Ray Mendoza, one of the first patrol officers on scene, and from Dan Riley, the police department’s crime scene and evidence technician.
Testimony continued Tuesday with Mario Rivera-Vasquez, one of Villanueva’s co-defendants, on the stand. Vasquez previously pleaded guilty to murder in connection with the case and accepted a 30-year prison sentence as part of an agreement with the district attorney’s office.
Jurors on Tuesday also heard from Dr. Corinne Stern, chief medical examiner with the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office in Laredo, who performed the autopsy of Sanchez’s body, finding that Sanchez had died of positional asphyxiation after being placed into his own car, and Ricardo “Rick” Menchaca, another man present at the Villanueva home the night of the incident.
Testimony ended Tuesday with DRPD Detective Oscar Gonzalez, the lead investigator in the case, on the stand.
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