EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Mexican judge says there’s enough evidence to hold a Chihuahua state police officer for trial on homicide charges in connection with the Jan. 5 shooting death of an El Paso resident in Juarez.
The judge ordered Arturo Ivan V.S., a member of the state police State Investigations Unit (AEI), to remain behind bars for the next two months as prosecutors and the accused man’s defense prepare for trial.
The ruling was based in part on an autopsy report that shows Julian Alfredo Rodriguez, 19, died from a gunshot wound to the head, the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office said on Monday.
The bullet presumably came from the officer’s AR-15 rifle, which a widely disseminated security camera video shows he fired at an approaching blue Ford Mustang as he stood in the middle of a street monitoring traffic as a colleague served an arrest warrant inside a nearby home in the Melchor Ocampo neighborhood of Juarez.
The 34-year-old officer alleges self-defense. He has told authorities he thought the driver of the Mustang meant to run him over.
Rodriguez, 19, an El Paso resident who worked at a restaurant, a nursing home and did landscaping on the side, was visiting his parents in Juarez accompanied by his brother. The morning of the shooting, the brothers and a friend were on their way to procure food for a family meal, according to relatives.
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