BEAUMONT, Texas — Testimonies began Tuesday in the trial of a Port Arthur man charged with murder in connection with a 2019 shooting.
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of Martin Pettway. Pettway is charged with murder in connection with the 2019 shooting death of Jesse Rodriguez.
Pettway and three others, Xavier Parrish, Nayah Mayfield and Taylor Jones, were indicted on first-degree murder charges in October of 2019. Officers believe all three suspects were with Pettway when the deadly shooting took place.
However, prosecutors believe Pettway fired the gun that killed Rodriguez, so he is their main focus.
Pettway is currently being held in the Jefferson County Jail on bonds totaling more than $1 million.
What happened?
The fatal shooting happened under the Eastex Freeway overpass at Dowlen Road near Parkdale Mall on Saturday, August 17, 2019. Police said the shooting happened after a “disturbance” in Cici’s Pizza located in the 5800 block of Eastex Freeway.
Pettway and Rodriguez "interacted" inside the restaurant. Police said calling the disturbance an altercation "would be a stretch," according to file stories.
Rodriguez left the restaurant and was followed by Pettway and the three other suspects. Witnesses at the scene told police the four suspects were seen getting into a black Ford Fusion, according to file stories.
Witnesses told investigators there were multiple gunshots from the inside of the Ford Fusion. Rodriguez was shot in the head while stopped at a traffic light and died in the hospital.
Pettway was arrested two days after the shooting took place thanks to a Crime Stoppers tip.
Day 1 of testimonies - June 7, 2022
Prosecutor Luke Nicholes in opening statements told the jury this all started with an interaction inside the restaurant where Jesse Rodriguez scooted his chair out and bumped into Pettway's chair, describing it as "No big deal."
"You'll hear testimony that as Jessie got up to leave, he stood his chair back and kind of bumped somebody and there was a little exchange of words and that was pretty much it," said Nichols.
He said later there were words exchanged in the parking lot, but no fight.
He told the jury that Pettway was a passenger in a car that ended up behind the victim's truck, and five shots were fired, one of them killing Rodriguez. He told the jury that Pettway is the one who fired the shots.
Defense attorney Audwin Samuel told the jury this isn't that simple. He told the jury his client was not the shooter, but the person who was driving the car Pettway was in did the shooting. He asked the jury to pay attention to whether an individual depicted in video evidence is a light or dark-skinned black male. He also said the motivation behind the shooting was a jealous lover, not the incident with the chair.
Testimony is ongoing in the 252nd District Court.
This is a developing story. We will update you as the trial continues.
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