Bexar County jurors began hearing testimony Tuesday in the murder trial of a man accused of taking part in the 2023 fatal shooting of a Bexar County in what prosecutors say was a dispute over money.
Marco Antonio Moreno-Vasquez, 37, didn’t fire the shot that killed Dueniel Valladares Fernande. But prosecutors say he ordered another man, Adis Hernandez-Rivas, to shoot Valladares Fernandez. Both men were charged with murder. Hernandez-Rivas, 27, is awaiting trial, according to Bexar County court records.
Moreno-Vasquez is being tried on a murder charge under the law of parties, which allows prosecutors to hold a person criminally responsible for a killing committed by someone else, Bexar County Assistant District Attorney Meghan Galloway told jurors Tuesday.
“The state is not going to be able to prove to you that this defendant was the shooter. What we are going to be able to prove is the defendant knew Dueniel and that Dueniel owed him a debt,” she told the jury. “And on that night, he chose greed over humanity, and that he (Moreno-Vasquez) directed Adis to shoot.”
Moreno-Vasquez’s attorney, David Garcia, reserved his opening statement for when he begins presenting the defense’s case.
Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies found Valladares Fernandez with a gunshot wound at a home in the 7700 block of Winsford Drive in the eastern part of the county. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
A home security camera captured video of Valladares Fernandez walking to the front gate to meet the defendants. In the recording, the three men were talking when the conversation appeared to intensify, according to an arrest affidavit.
The video shows Hernandez-Rivas reaching for something in his pocket before he raised his right arm as if he were holding a gun and pointed it toward Fernandez, according to the arrest affidavit.
Hernandez-Rivas’ arm was seen recoiling as if a gun was fired, but the weapon was outside the video’s frame, according to the affidavit.
The surveillance video also captured a light-colored SUV enter and exit the neighborhood at the time of the shooting. Deputies were able to track the vehicle to an Atascosa County home where the defendants lived with Moreno-Vasquez’s wife, according to court documents.