SAN ANTONIO – In halting sobs, James Garza, 19, admitted that he and his friend, Stephen Vogt, 17, stabbed Mario Raygoza to death in the parking lot of a South side apartment complex in September 2009.
The videotaped admission was played for the jury on Wednesday during Garza's capital murder trial in 290th District Court.
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The pair headed for Colorado in Raygoza's car following the attack.
They were picked up 19 days later in Glenwood Springs, Colo., after police there arrested them for shoplifting. They had allegedly stolen $52 worth of groceries.
San Antonio police Det. Brent Bell said that among the clues that led them to Garza was a knife block they found while searching the home of Garza's mother.
There was a steak knife missing, he said, and the others matched a knife found near Raygoza's body.
Both Garza and Vogt are facing capital murder charges.
Vogt is scheduled to be tried next month. Like Garza, he is facing life without parole if he is convicted.
The state has opted not to seek the death penalty in both cases.