Who is Facundo Chavez? Man convicted of fatally shooting El Paso Deputy Peter Herrera during traffic stop receives death sentence
EL PASO, TEXAS: The man found guilty of killing El Paso Sheriff Deputy Peter Herrera during a traffic stop in 2019 received the death penalty from an El Paso jury.
Facundo Chavez, 32, will be executed after a panel of nine women and three men decided on the sentence on Wednesday, August 9. The jury's deliberations lasted for about ten hours over two days, Elpaso Times reports.
Who is Facundo Chavez?
Facundo Chavez was charged with viciously shooting and assaulting Herrera during a traffic stop on March 22, 2019, at about 1.50 am in the 1000 block of Chicken Ranch Road, close to Socorro Road in San Elizario.
Herrera stopped Chavez and his girlfriend, Arlene Pina, for two traffic infractions: Failure to dim high-beam headlights and incorrectly displaying a temporary license plate permission.
Herrera requested that Chavez pull over to the side of the road. However, the latter jumped out of the car, pulled out a revolver, and fired at the deputy.
Chavez fired around 15 shots at Herrera before the handgun jammed. The pair fled the scene as Herrera lay dying in a pool of blood.
Herrera was given first aid in an attempt to stem the bleeding. The deputy was then transported to the Del Sol Medical Center. He died two days later in the hospital.
How was Chavez captured?
According to their testimony, US Border Patrol officers later discovered Chavez and Pina hiding in a shed on the property of an adjacent residence.
The trial, which started on July 26, is being held in Criminal District Court 1 at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.
During the trial, the jury was shown the graphic recordings captured by Herrera's body camera, the dashboard camera of the patrol vehicle, and the body camera of another deputy during the shooting.
Chavez testified twice during the trial and admitted to the crime both times. "I shot Deputy Herrera. I beat him with a gun," Chavez testified. Meanwhile, Pina is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence.
'Serious tragic case'
Chavez maintained his composure while Judge Diane Navarrete, who presided over the trial, was addressing the court, but when the jury returned its verdict, he became emotional. The 32-year-old was given the death sentence by a jury of twelve people.
The jury unanimously agreed that Chavez remains a risk to society, but they disagreed on whether there are any "mitigating circumstances for why Facundo Chavez should not be sentenced to death."
Bill Hicks, the district attorney for El Paso, addressed the media following the jury's verdict. "We felt that the verdict speaks appropriately for the crime, for what happened," said the DA, as per KFox TV.
"Serious tragic case. Deputy Herrera deserved a better end. And it’s a tragedy that we were here and it's a tragedy that Facundo Chavez will end his life as a result of this case," Hicks added.