SAN ANTONIO – Prosecutors told jurors that a man on trial for murder was actually not the shooter, but that his co-defendant was the one to pull the trigger.
A trial began Tuesday for Jayveon Johnson, who is charged with aggravated robbery and murder in connection with the 2023 death of 20-year-old David Rezentes.
Johnson allegedly ordered his co-defendant, Mariah Cabrera, to shoot, prosecutors said.
Rezentes was found dead on March 25, 2023, at the corner of El Paso and Elvira streets on the city’s West Side. Authorities arrested Johnson, Cabrera and Jonathan Garza five months later.
Months later, Angel Salas was also arrested and charged in the case.
During opening statements, prosecutors said Johnson and several others planned to rob a man named Richard Diaz, who intended to sell them drugs. However, when Diaz arrived with Rezentes, they were ambushed.
“They ran to the car with guns and demanded property from Diaz and Rezentes,” prosecutor Jennifer McDaniel said in court. “This man told Mariah Cabrera to shoot, and when she did, she hit Rezentes in the chest.”
The shooting was captured on a nearby church’s surveillance camera, which the state plans to present as evidence. Prosecutors also said that Johnson admitted to being at the scene and instructing Cabrera to shoot.
Defense attorney Daniel De La Garza urged jurors to consider all the evidence, arguing that the case stemmed from a “drug deal gone bad.”
“The complainant was a drug dealer, his friend was a drug dealer,” De La Garza said. “Keep an open mind to the role each person played.”
Cabrera accepted a plea deal in December and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Two other co-defendants are still awaiting trial. If convicted, Johnson faces up to life in prison.