SAN ANTONIO – A jury is deliberating in the civil rights trial stemming from the police-involved shooting death of Marquise Jones.
Making his second appearance Tuesday as a witness — this time called by the city of San Antonio — city Police Chief William McManus repeated his position that the shooting was justified.
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McManus testified that three other agencies, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office all agreed that the shooting was justified.
Jones, 23, was shot and killed in February 2014 by city police Officer Robert Encina. He was cleared of any criminal charges by a Bexar County grand jury.
Encina, who was working off duty as a security officer at a North Side restaurant where the shooting occurred, told investigators that Jones had a weapon and that he fired fearing for his life.
The family’s lawsuit alleges that Jones was unarmed and that the shooting violated his civil rights. The family is seeking unspecified damages from the city.
Witness accounts of the shooting varied. Some said Jones had a gun, others said he was unarmed and some changed their story several times.
Testifying as an expert witness for the city, former San Antonio Police Chief Albert Ortiz said it was not unusual for witnesses to change their statements regarding traumatic stressful situations.
“That makes investigations difficult,” Ortiz testified. “Confounding.”
KSAT 12 News will report what the jury decides when it is announced.
The #MarquiseJones trial is in jury's hands now. Closing arguments over. Judge just read instructions
— Garrett Brnger (@BrngerReports) April 5, 2017