UVALDE, Texas (KABB/WOAI) — The trial for Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde CISD officer charged in connection with the response to the Robb Elementary shooting, has been scheduled for Jan. 5 in Corpus Christi.

Adrian Gonzales is facing 29 counts of endangering a child after the May 24, 2022, shooting. Gonzales’s attorney, Nico LaHood, says he deserves a fair trial.

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LaHood said the city of Uvalde is too emotionally connected to the case for Gonzales to get a fair trial there. One Robb Elementary family we spoke to said there’s nowhere Gonzales or Pete Arredondo can hide.

A judge agreed to move the venue to Nueces County.

The Uvalde County District Attorney said in a recent court filing that she didn’t oppose the motion to move the trial, which families of Robb Elementary victims and survivors have been waiting years for.

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“We just felt that, for Mr. Gonzalez’s benefit, we needed a jury in an environment that wasn’t so emotionally attached to that horrible event that happened at the elementary school in Uvalde.. the judge agreed,” LaHood said.

He says, after the death of 19 students and 2 teachers, a change of venue is the best way to get a fair trial.

“We’re prepared to try this case in Nueces County,” LaHood said. “We just needed a jury that was as objective as possible.”

Former UCISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo is also charged with several counts of abandoning and endangering a child.

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Jesse Rizo lost his niece, Jacklyn Cazare,s in the shooting. He doesn’t believe a change of venue will make a difference.

“There’s nowhere to hide from it. I mean, the entire world knows about it,” he said. “There’s trainings that were implemented changed because of them. They use Uvalde as an example [of] what not to do.”

He agrees that a change of venue is fair, even if it’s a nearly 200-mile drive from Uvalde, adding that grieving families want justice.

“It is going to be difficult to attend the hearings but, at the end of the day, you have to reflect back — and you have to think back the children,” Rizo said. “They lived the nightmare for 77 minutes…the drive from between here and Corpus? We’re willing to sacrifice that.”

LaHood shared that he and Gonzales are confident in their team. Gonzales has maintained his innocence.

“I can tell you that we’ve seen all the evidence that the government has provided for us that they’re going to use against Mr. Gonzalez, and we have seen no evidence to substantiate or support the charges brought against him,” LaHood said. “Our position is the person that was responsible for this evil event is no longer on this earth and, in my opinion, has been held accountable. Mr. Gonzalez is not that person.”

“I would have to totally disagree with him,” Rizo responded. “There’s 19 kids that didn’t come home. There’s two teachers [who] didn’t come home. There’s survivors that have to live a nightmare every day. For him to make a comment like that is totally insulting.”

That trial is set for Jan. 5. It will run separately from Pete Arredondo’s trial, which is still scheduled to happen in Uvalde.

It’s on hold because of a pending federal lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the trial for former Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who is also facing charges, remains uncertain.

Further updates will be provided as the situation develops.