JOURDANTON, Texas – Prosecutors and defense lawyers rested their cases Tuesday in the capital murder trial of a man charged in the shooting death of a San Antonio police officer.
As attorneys prepared the jury charge, they discussed whether to include lesser charges for jurors to consider, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and aggravated assault on a police officer.
Shawn Puente, 34, is accused of fatally wounding Officer Robert Deckard during a high-speed chase from San Antonio into Atascosa County in December 2013. Deckard was hit in the head when a shot allegedly fired by the defendant pierced the windshield of the officer's patrol car. Puente and co-defendant Jenevieve Ramos, 28, were suspects in an armed robbery in San Antonio.
Closing arguments are set to begin Wednesday morning.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Puente and Ramos, who remains jailed awaiting trial.