Ex-girlfriend testifies key evidence she gave to police led to arrest in 2018 double murder

SAN ANTONIO – A key witness for the prosecution was the first person to take the stand on the second day of the capital murder trial of Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez.

Avelar-Rodriguez is charged in the fatal shooting of Nicholas Milanovich, 23, and Julia Wright, 21, on Sept. 30, 2018. Both were shot as they lay asleep in their apartment.

In court on Wednesday, Melissa Cortez, an ex-girlfriend of Avelar-Rodriguez, testified that he showed up at her home and changed clothes the day of the shootings.

Cortez said he put the clothes in a bag and left them there. Also, she said he had a lockbox with a pill bottle inside with the name Julia on it.

Later, Cortez said she handed over the clothes to her attorney because holding onto them didn’t feel right.

Cortez was questioned by the detective on the case more than a year later, and she handed him the pill bottle that was found, which she still had it in her home.

During opening statements on Tuesday, it was revealed that Avelar-Rodriguez confessed to police that Cortez was a drug kingpin and ordered him to commit the murder or he would be killed.

Cortez denied being a part of a cartel or ordering Avelar-Rodriguez to commit the murders when asked about those allegations in court.

The death penalty is not on the table in this case. If found guilty, Avelar-Rodriguez would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Testimony will continue on Thursday morning.