SAN ANTONIO – Months after Edward Trejo was killed at a Christmas party in December, his family is demanding answers about why prosecutors did not begin reviewing the case until March, near the 90-day deadline to present it to a grand jury.
Andrea Trejo, Edward’s mother, said one of the district attorney’s prosecutors told her the case was being reviewed within 10 days of the deadline to present it to the grand jury. Less than two weeks later, she said, she was informed the man who killed her son was being released and the case was dismissed.
Trejo said she does not understand why it took so long for the district attorney’s office to seemingly start on the case, particularly because investigators had multiple videos from the incident and several witness accounts. She said investigators later came to her to express confusion about the decision.
“They said, Honestly, we don’t know. We gave them enough evidence for them to prosecute him…I just felt like you waited till a week and a half to decide and take it to a grand jury. How did you show this to them? How did you present this to them?” Andrea Trejo said.
Trejo also claimed the district attorney’s office did not question witnesses who were at the party where Edward Trejo was killed until the day the grand jury received the case. A witness and the owner of the property where the deadly incident took place said he had previously only spoken with homicide detectives.
“I heard from the DA office maybe about two hours before, asking if we had any additional information to give,” said David, who was identified as a witness and the property owner.
Sigrid Vendrell-Polanco of the St. Mary’s University School of Law said cases are typically reviewed for multiple weeks before they are brought forward to a grand jury, but she said there may have been more happening behind the scenes than it appears.
“Many people at the DAs office work on these cases, whether it be investigators, attorneys, intake attorneys, and then it goes to litigation,” Vendrell-Polanco said.
The Trejo family said they will continue reaching out to the district attorney’s office to get their questions answered.
“We were left in the loop not knowing anything. Where’s the justice for my son,” Trejo said.
The district attorney’s office was pressed for further comment to confirm what the Trejo family said and to explain what evidence was presented in the case. The office reiterated the status of the case and refused to comment at this time.