SAN ANTONIO – A jury deliberated for just over three hours Thursday before returning a guilty verdict of felony murder in the murder trial of Julian Martinez.
Martinez, 18, fired a single shot into a car in which Amanda Acosta, 17, was riding as she and friends drove from a party at 209 Cavalier St.
Martinez fired from a car in which he was riding, witnesses said. He and some friends were following the car in which Acosta was a passenger.
Prosecutors said that a teen with whom Martinez had fought with at the party was also in the car in which Acosta was riding and suggested that the bullet was meant for him.
“He didn’t mean to kill Amanda,” Assistant District Attorney Jason Goss told the jury during closing arguments. “That doesn’t change what he did.”
Defense attorney Philip Bozzo questioned the credibility of the state’s witnesses during closing arguments.
“There were people who testified on the stand who changed their story several times,” Bozzo told the jury.
Martinez is facing a maximum punishment of life in prison.