Jury finds San Antonio man guilty of capital murder

Jimmy Tran sentenced life in prison without the possibility of parole

SAN ANTONIO – After four hours of deliberations, a jury has come back with a guilty verdict in the capital murder trial of Jimmy Tran.

Tran has been on trial for seven days for the 2019 robbery and murder of 22-year-old Andres Salinas behind a Northeast Side Wingstop.

During closing arguments, the defense said the state had no case and didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Tran was guilty.

“There is no direct evidence that Jimmy is the shooter,” defense attorney Joseph Hoelscher said.

The defense further stated that codefendant Sebastian Espinar’s testimony was all a lie and even suggested he might have been working with Salinas to steal Tran’s money.

The state fired back saying the text messages in Tran’s phone not only showed he committed robbery but also that he shot somebody.

The jury was also able to consider the lesser charge of murder or manslaughter if they couldn’t agree on capital murder.

Tran has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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About the Authors:

Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with 15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Erica has covered a wide array of stories all over Central and South Texas. She's currently the court reporter and cohost of the podcast Texas Crime Stories.

Misael started at KSAT-TV as a photojournalist in 1987.