SAN ANTONIO – The new year will be a busy one at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center.
There are more than a dozen cases KSAT 12 News will be watching closely.
Here’s a breakdown of those cases:
Jilson Avelar-Rodriguez
This is a capital murder case from 2018 some may have forgotten about. Jilson Duban Avelar-Rodriguez is heading for trial this month.
Avelar-Rodriguez is accused of killing a couple in their bed on Sept. 30, 2018, at their apartment in the 8600 block of Fairhaven Street, according to an arrest affidavit.
Jury selection is expected to begin Jan. 12.
This is a non-death capital murder case, so if found guilty, Avelar-Rodriguez would automatically be sentenced life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Damion Campbell
While no date has been set yet, the 2020 case of Damion Campbell could be soon heading to trial early this year.
Police said Campbell, 42, walked inside Diesel Barbershop on Bandera Road near Loop 1604 and attacked three staff members.
Helle Jae O’Regan was killed in the attack. Campbell is now facing a murder charge for her death.
Nickolle Aguilar & Daniel Garcia
The couple is charged in the death of Aguilar’s 5-year-old, Domenic Aguilar-Acevedo, whose remains were found at the bottom of a ravine in Colorado.
Aguilar was charged with injury to a child while Garcia was charged with murder.
Aguilar will go to trial first, which is expected to take place in the spring. Garcia could see his trial begin in May.
Jose Ruiz
Another horrific child abuse case will go to trial.
Jose Ruiz is charged in the death of 5-year-old Mercedes Losoya. Ruiz was Losoya’s mother’s boyfriend at the time of the incident.
An arrest affidavit stated that Losoya had “visible bruises, scratches, cuts and swelling on almost every visible part of her body.”
Katrina Mendoza was also charged in this case, but in exchange for her testimony against Ruiz, she accepted a plea deal. She will be sentenced after Ruiz’s trial.
Ruiz’s trial is expected to begin in March.
Christian Moreno & Abilene Schnieder
A dog attack claimed the life of Ramon Najera, 81, in February 2023.
The owner of the dogs, Christian Moreno and Abilene Schnieder, were later indicted on a charge of dangerous dog attack resulting in death and injury to the elderly.
Moreno and Schnieder could have their trial together in March or separately this spring.
RC Curtis
After a mistrial at the end of 2021, RC Curtis could see his day in court again in 2024.
A judge ruled that the trial should be retried, but defense attorneys filed an appeal, claiming the case shouldn’t get another trial. The appeals court denied that request and the case is now clear to be retried.
Curtis is accused of killing his wife’s grandmother, Paula Boyd, in 2015.
Reyes Gallegos
Two years after Celicia Huertas Gallegos disappeared, her husband, Reyes Gallegos, was charged with her murder.
According to the affidavit, Hueartas Gallegos was trying to end her marriage.
On July 7, 2019, co-workers said Huertas Gallegos left to check on her children and was never seen again.
Investigators said surveillance cameras placed Huertas Gallegos at her home on Southwick Road on July 7.
The following day, officers said surveillance cameras were shut off for more than an hour before Reyes Gallegos was seen going to his truck and leaving. Police said he returned with two shovels, contractor-duty trash bags, a chainsaw, and cleaning supplies.
Even though her body has never been found, Reyes Gallegos was still charged.
Gallegos could go to trial later this summer.
D’Lanny Chairez
In early January 2021, D’Lanny Chairez and her 18-month old son James Chairez disappeared.
D’Lanny Chairez was later found but she didn’t have her child.
Baby James’ remains were found four years later underneath the trailer he and his mom lived in.
Chairez was later charged with injury to a child.
Currently, there is no trial date scheduled for Chairez, but it can likely happen this year.
Stephen Clare
Stephen Clare is facing numerous charged including capital murder. He’s accused of attacking his ex-wife and two young daughters, killing one of them.
This case is still in its early stages, but one KSAT continues to watch closely as the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office could decide to pursue the death penalty.
Clare’s next court date is later this month.
Jessie Garcia
Jesse Garcia faces five charges of aggravated assault of a public servant, two charges of aggravated robbery and a charge of aggravated kidnapping following a violent rampage on the city’s Southwest and West Sides last summer.
Garcia was out on bond on four previous cases when he is accused of shooting three SAPD officers.
How all the cases will be handled moving forward will be interesting to follow.
Taymor McIntyre
Taymor McIntyre, also known by his stage name, Tay-K 47, is accused of shooting and killing Mark Anthony Saldivar during a robbery on the North Side in April 2017.
McIntyre, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, has already been convicted on a separate murder charge in Tarrant County. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison and then was extradited on Aug. 9 to the Bexar County Jail, where he currently awaits trial.
While under house arrest in Tarrant County, McIntyre cut off his ankle monitor and fled to San Antonio in 2017.
That’s when the teenage rapper allegedly killed Saldivar and then became the subject of a national manhunt. While on the run, he released a song called “The Race,” where he posed in front of his wanted poster.
James Brennand
The case of former SAPD Officer James Brennand has gotten national attention.
Brennand is accused of shooting Erik Cantu, 17, who was sitting in his vehicle outside a North Side McDonald’s.
Brennand could go to trial this year but it has not been determined if it will even take place in Bexar County.
Defense attorneys filed a change of venue motion. A judge will make a decision on that motion later this month.
Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro, Nathaniel Villalobos
Right: Eleazar Alejandro (Bexar County Jail Records)
Another case involving SAPD officers is the shooting death of Melissa Perez, 46.
Officer Eleazar Alejandro and Sgt. Alfred Flores face a charge of murder. Officer Nathaniel Villalobos faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant.
Perez was experiencing a mental health crisis and had a hammer in her hand when police shot her through a patio window and door in the 6200 block of Old Pearsall Road last year.
While this case will more than likely not go to trial this year, the officers are expected to make their first court appearance later this month.
Victor Rivas
A courtroom brawl last fall put this case front and center.
Victor Rivas is accused in the murder of Ethan Soto, 15.
In October last year, Rivas made a gesture toward Soto’s family members in court, when they jumped a partition in the courtroom and began assaulting Rivas.
Two months later, Soto’s sister Savannah Soto, and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra, were found dead in Guerra’s vehicle. That capital murder is still being investigated and no arrests have been made.
Since Rivas was assaulted in court, another scheduled court date has not been set in his case, but KSAT will continue to monitor.
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