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Jury finds man guilty of fatally shooting two people in their bedroom

Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez was automatically sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole

SAN ANTONIO – A jury on Friday found a man guilty of fatally shooting two people in their bedroom. Jurors deliberated for about 1 1/2 hours in reaching its verdict.

Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez was automatically sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole since the prosecution didn’t seek the death penalty.

He was on trial for capital murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Nicholas “Trey” Milanovich, 23, and Julia Wright, 21, on Sept. 30, 2018.

Wright was found outside an apartment in the 8600 block of Fairhaven Street. Milanovich was found in his bed inside his apartment.

A more than two-hour long interrogation video was shown to the jury that showed the defendant admitting to the murders.

“The truth is I did fire,” Avelar-Rodriguez said in the video. “I fired at both of them. Then I opened the door and I left.”

The defendant said he was forced to kill the victims by his girlfriend Melissa Cortez.

“She made me and told me, ‘No, you’re going to do it because if not, it, well I’m going to have someone do something to you,’” Avelar-Rodriguez said in the video. He goes on to say that Cortez was even present the night of the murders and gave him the gun to shoot the victims.

The defendant said Cortez, who sold drugs, had issues with Milanovich and didn’t like the fact that he was selling drugs.

The case was finally being tried in court after several years of delays.

For a full recap of the case watch “Open Court: The trial of Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez” below:


About the Authors
Erica Hernandez headshot

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 Gomez headshot

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

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