A jury on Friday found Eric Vasquez guilty of murder in the 2025 road-rage shooting death of Jay Whitemountain Morales on San Antonio’s Northwest Side. It was Vasquez’s second trial; jurors in his first trial were unable to reach a verdict.
Vasquez, 48, faces up to 99 years in prison. He looked down as the verdict was read, while Morales’ family members embraced in the courtroom.
Jurors deliberated for about five hours Thursday and returned Friday for about two more hours. The trial will now move to the punishment phase.
Morales, 41, was driving home after picking up medicine for his child when Vasquez killed him in the 6700 block of Spring Hurst Drive. The two men did not know each other, according to San Antonio police.
Prosecutors said Vasquez chased Morales in his vehicle. Morales pulled over at a bus stop to keep Vasquez from following him home, they said. After both men got out of their vehicles, Vasquez shot Morales as he begged for his life, prosecutors said.
Neighbors who witnessed the shooting testified at trial. Lorraine Campos said she was returning from buying milk when she saw the men at the bus stop.
“I saw a man holding a gun and another man on the ground that was screaming,” Campos said. “Then the man holding the gun said, ‘Why did you do that? Why did you f-word do that?’”
Vasquez’s attorney, Michael De Leon, argued that his client shot Morales in self-defense. De Leon said Morales opened his car’s trunk at the bus stop and retrieved one of his two handguns. He said Morales pointed the gun at Vasquez, prompting Vasquez to shoot.
De Leon also said Vasquez cooperated with police at the scene. Vasquez was allowed to return home but was arrested months later.
During opening statements in the punishment phase, lead prosecutor Neal Cordero thanked jurors for their verdict and said he would leave the sentence to them. De Leon asked jurors to sentence Vasquez to between five and 10 years.
Family members of Morales who testified said first responders kept him alive long enough to say their goodbye’s at the hospital. Several of Morales’ siblings took the stand to testify about what it was like to lose their brother.
“There’s no words to describe the pain when you lose someone you love so much, that you spent your whole life with,” said Morales’ sister, Joy Cavazos. “I’m a nurse, I’ve seen many things — nothing prepares you to lose a loved one.”
Sarah Morales, the wife of Jay Morales, said her husband worked as an appraiser. She described her husband as a family man who had a passion for life.
“It was infectious, everything about him,” she said. “He loved his family — he was at every birthday, every celebration, and if he knew that you weren’t feeling well, he would call you to cheer you up.”