BEAUMONT, Texas — A 25-year-old Port Arthur man is standing trial this week for the 2022 murder of a 31-year-old Beaumont man.
Opening statements in the trial of Ronald Demard Babino Jr., 25, of Port Arthur began Tuesday afternoon before Judge Raquel West in Jefferson County's 252nd District Court.
He, Charles Verdine and a 16-year-old were all indicted for the shooting death of Richard Shillow, 31, of Beaumont.
Babino is the first of the two men to stand trial in the first degree murder. It is unclear at this time if the juvenile has been adjudicated yet.
During opening statements from prosecutor Tommy Lamar Coleman told jurors that the evidence would show that Babino was part of a conspiracy to rob Shillow at gunpoint to steal drugs and guns.
Coleman described the robbery and murder as an ambush telling jurors they would see some of it on surveillance video.
Defense attorney William Marcus Wilkerson told jurors the prosecution was making a lot of assumptions saying, "boy, that was some story, wasn't it?"
Wilkerson told jurors evidence would show Babino would have had no way of knowing a homicide was going to happen during the robbery.
The prosecution must prove Babino "intentionally and knowingly" committed the crime he told jurors.
If found guilty, Babino faces from five to 99 years or life in prison.
The jury was selected on Monday afternoon.
Beaumont Police responded to a shooting at the Virginia Estates Apartments in the city's south end on the morning of March 27, 2022. They found Richard Shillow suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.
He was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital where he later died.
Security footage revealed two men walked up to Shillow's parked car, opened the passenger door, and fatally shot him, court documents say.
The footage showed two men running into a silver Infinity with paper tags on them, according to a probable cause affidavit.
During the investigation, detectives received information alleging that the silver Infinity with identical suspects was involved in an auto theft of a GMC truck at Cardinal Drive and 4th Street in Beaumont.
The victim involved in the carjacking was able to track his truck by using his cell phone, which was left inside at the time of the theft. Officers located the stolen truck and tried to pull the driver over before a "lengthy" car chase started.
Two suspects stayed with the truck and were arrested while three of the suspects ran from the truck. The three suspects were captured with the assistance of a Beaumont Police K9, according to a 12News file story.
Two other suspects, both 14-year-old boys, involved in the incident were initially charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and evading police on foot.
Babino later admitted to being the driver of the silver Infinity that was waiting for the suspects after the shooting.
