Cabbie found robbed, shot to death

Prosecutors: Derrick Hunt killed cab driver for $19

SAN ANTONIO – The trial of a man accused of shooting a cab driver and robbing him of just $19 began on Tuesday.

Among the first witnesses in the capital murder trial of 19-year-old Derrick Hunt, man accused in the fatal shooting, was Daniel Solis.

He said he heard loud noises outside his home on Sunrise Pass at about 4 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2011.

"I was startled by a pounding," Solis testified. "I thought someone was pounding on someone's door aggressively."

He would later learn that the pounding was gunshots. About five or six, he guessed.

Solis said he looked outside and saw a cab slowly moving down the street. It finally stopped after first striking two parked cars.

He said he dashed outside and peered into the cab. He saw John Dexter, 49, slumped behind the wheel of his taxi cab.

"He looked like he was asleep or something so I opened the door, saw blood and called 911," Solis said.

Among the first police officers to arrive was a patrolman who said he had visited with Dexter just a few minutes earlier at a nearby convenience store.

The officer said Dexter told him he had an uneasy feeling about a man inside his cab.

Hunt was arrested a few days later after his fingerprints were found on Dexter's cab.

Since prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty Hunt will be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he is found guilty.

Testimony will continue on Wednesday in Judge Melissa Skinner's 290th District Court.


About the Author:

Paul Venema is a courthouse reporter for KSAT with more than 25 years experience in the role.