Man charged in double murder over cigarettes goes on trial

Prosecutors seeking death penalty against Luis Antonio Arroyo, 41

SAN ANTONIO – The trial of a 41-year-old man charged with fatally shooting two people and critically wounding a third following an angry confrontation over cigarettes began Monday. 

During his opening statement, prosecutor Scott Simpson told the jury that the defendant, Luis Antonio Arroyo, went to an apartment the night of Jan. 21, 2016, where his friends, Quikether Jackson, 36, and her mother, Tandylyn, lived.

Simpson said that Tandylyn Jackson accused Arroyo of stealing a package of cigarettes from her apartment.

"He's banging on the door, she's not gonna let him in, and he shoots Quikether right between the eyes and begins stabbing Tandylyn in the back," Simpson said.

Arroyo is also accused of shooting Tandylyn Jackson, who testified that she remembers nothing after being shot. When she woke up in a hospital, she said she asked a detective about her daughter's condition.

"He said, 'I'm sorry Miss Jackson, the doctors tried to help your daughter, but she didn't make it," Jackson told jurors while sobbing. 

Arroyo is also accused of shooting and killing Rodney Spring, who was visiting the women that night.

Arroyo fled the scene, but was arrested at his girlfriend's apartment three days later and charged with capital murder.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty aganst Arroyo.

While awaiting trial in the Bexar County Jail, Arroyo and two other prisoners escaped the lockup this spring. They were captured just hours after the escape.

Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday in Judge Kevin O'Connell's 227th District Court.


About the Author:

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