CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The search for a jury in the trial of a former Uvalde CISD officer charged for his response to the Robb Elementary School shooting began in the daytime Monday and ended under the cover of darkness.
Just before 8 p.m. Monday, 12 jurors and four alternate jurors were officially selected.
At least 450 prospective jurors were summoned to the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi for jury selection in the case of Adrian Gonzales. Gonzales, who is facing 29 counts of child endangerment, was one of the first law enforcement officers to respond to the Robb Elementary School campus on May 24, 2022.
A 18-year-old shooter killed 19 children and two teachers in the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. Others, including 10 children, were also injured in the attack. The 29 children killed or injured in the shooting represent Gonzales’ 29 child endangerment charges.
Judge Sid Harle, who is presiding over Gonzales’ trial, was upfront and understanding in a statement to the jury pool on Monday.
“I’m sure there is literally nobody in the courtroom who hasn’t heard about this case,” Harle said to the jury pool.
Upon arrival to the courthouse, the prospective jurors were tasked with answering a two-page questionnaire upon their arrival at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi. KSAT obtained a copy of the questionnaire.
Among the questions in the questionnaire, the jury pool was asked about their general impressions of Gonzales and law enforcement’s response to the shooting at Robb Elementary.
By Monday afternoon, all prospective jurors confirmed that they had heard about the 2022 shooting.
Some of them grew upset in court.
“I could have been that teacher waiting for help, scared,” one member of the potential jury pool said. “The cops did nothing. It makes me biased.”
Another potential juror described themselves as a teacher.
“I am a teacher and that would affect me listening to the facts,” the potential juror said. “My mind is made up.”
At approximately 3:45 p.m., only 150 members of the potential jury pool were dismissed.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell is prosecuting the case, but she appointed Bill Turner as special prosecutor. Turner was the former district attorney in Brazos County.
Gonzales’ defense team is led by San Antonio-area attorney and former Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood.
The state is expected to call approximately 60 witnesses to the stand. Court records indicate some of those asked to be witnesses include the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, officers from other responding law enforcement agencies, medical personnel and some parents of school shooting victims.
Child endangerment charges are considered a state jail felony. Upon a potential conviction, Gonzales could be sentenced between six months and two years in a state jail.
If convicted, Gonzales also elected for Harle to determine his sentence instead of the jury.
Pre-trial proceedings are scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning.
When court proceedings begin on Tuesday morning, KSAT 12 News will livestream Gonzales’ trial on KSAT.com, KSAT Plus and KSAT’s YouTube channel as a part of its Open Court coverage.
More coverage of ex-Uvalde CISD officer Adrian Gonzales’ trial on KSAT: