SAN ANTONIO – Jurors listened to a series of frantic 911 calls Wednesday during the murder trial of Jesse Vasquez III.
Vasquez III -- who also goes by his middle name, David -- is accused of shooting his father, Jesse Vasquez Jr., 47, to death at the elder Vasquez’s home in the 2500 block of Saunders Avenue on the night of April 17, 2016.
Miranda Aranda, the victim’s stepdaughter, called 911 that night pleading for help.
"Please send everything, an ambulance," she told the emergency operator. "There was a shooting."
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Aranda told the jury that the situation at the elder Vasquez’s home was tense that April night, marred by "screaming, cussing and physical violence."
"I had a gut feeling that someone was going to get killed," Aranda testified. Her feeling proved prophetic.
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"As my dad is walking out, that’s when David (Vasquez III) pulls a gun from behind him and shoots him," she said.
What Vasquez III said next apparently is his legal team’s strategy.
"He was talking to us and I just remember from whatever he was saying, 'It’s self-defense,'" Aranda testified.
Prosecutors said that things had been uneasy at the home for several weeks after the victim's son had moved into the home temporarily. They said that the men argued constantly and both had been using drugs.
Testimony is expected to continue on Thursday in Judge Joey Contreras’ 187th District Court.
If he is convicted, Vasquez III is facing a maximum punishment of life in prison.