Jury views graphic video of slaying in 2015 murder case

Gas station security camera video shows William Porter firing fatal shot

SAN ANTONIO – The state’s first item of evidence in the trial over a Christmas Day 2015 murder was shown to the jury Tuesday.

The shooting at a Goliad Road gas station, captured by the station’s surveillance cameras, shows William Boyd Porter, 44, shooting Trayvouns Edwards, 23, to death.

The video shows Porter chasing Edwards around the gas pumps of the Citgo gas station, then pointing the gun at Edwards' head and firing one shot at point blank range.

Porter’s lawyer claims that his client fired to protect his 18-year-old daughter. He said Edwards had kidnapped the teen and his client was rescuing her.

After viewing the video, veteran SAPD homicide Detective Timm Angell said it did not appear to be a justified shooting as Porter claimed.

“It looked like he was executed,” Angell testified.

Noting that Porter fled after firing the fatal shot, Angell said that was not the normal behavior of someone who acted in self-defense or defense of a third party.

“They don’t always stay at the scene, but they’ll usually call us to give us their side of the story rather quickly,” Angell said.

Three weeks after the shooting, Porter was arrested and charged with Edwards' murder. If he is found guilty, he faces a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Testimony is expected to continue Wednesday in Judge Jefferson Moore’s 186th District Court.


About the Author:

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