SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was found guilty Thursday in the shooting death of his on-and-off-again girlfriend.
Jurors deliberated for two hours before returning their verdict against Rogelio Mujica, who was charged with murder in the killing of Annette Juarez, 37, in March 2019.
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The punishment phase of the trial begins Friday at 10:30 a.m.
A judge will ultimately decide Mujica’s fate, which ranges from five to 99 years or life in prison.
Juarez’s body was found in the passenger seat of her vehicle parked along the shoulder of Highway 90, between General Hudnell Drive and Nogalitos Street.
A few days after she was found, Mujica was interrogated by detectives about his relationship with Juarez.
The defendant said he saw her a few nights before when he went to her house because he thought the Mexican Mafia was following him.
Mujica told detectives they drove around in her car for a while, bought some beer and eventually left her back at her home.
Prosecutors said a Ring video that was admitted as evidence, but not shown in the courtroom, showed Mujica arriving back at Juarez’s home without her and then left in his vehicle.
Jurors did see the interrogation video, which showed a detective telling Mujica that Juarez was found dead. When the detective told Mujica that he did not seem to have much remorse, Mujica responded that he didn’t kill Juarez and didn’t know who would want her dead.
While Mujica was a person of interest at the time, he wasn’t arrested or charged in the case until 2022.
According to an arrest affidavit, investigators said that Juarez previously made police reports of Mujica assaulting her.
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