Witness says he saw ‘pool of blood’ and ‘casings’ after shooting of Deputy Herrera

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — On Friday, July 28, the trial resumed for the man being charged with capital murder in the killing of El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy Peter Herrera back in March 2019.

On day three of the trial, the state called multiple witnesses to the stand. 

The first witness was an El Paso Police Department Officer, Christine McFarland. 

McFarland testified Friday, stating that she was working off duty at Del Sol when Deputy Herrera was brought in. She said at first, she didn’t know who it was. 

“They handed me a duty belt and I then knew it was law enforcement.” McFarland said. 

McFarland added that at the time it was her duty to collect Herrera’s things, she also called for a supervisor. One came from the El Paso Police Department and a woman came from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. 

The next witness was Jessica Avila, Deputy with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

Avila testified, stating that she heard Deputy Herrera call out a traffic stop as she was on her way to put gas.

Once she got to the gas station, she said she “heard him call for a robot and everything was code four.”

Avila also said that she observed him lying on the stretcher when she arrived at Del Sol and collected his boots, uniform, duty belt, and wallet.

“They recovered a bullet fragment that I collected. When I collected his clothes, a few metal fragments fell out.” Avila said.

After Avila, the next witness that testified was retired Border Patrol Agent Arturo Porras.

Porras said he noticed some objects in the street, adding that he saw bullet casings and a pool of blood in the middle of the street.

Porras said at that point he believed something was wrong.

He also stated a few agents and him went to go look for footprints and saw what looked like “two sets of footprints in the field.”

He also noticed a blanket with a hoodie laying in the direction of the footprints.

Porras said the footprints led to a house behind a chain linked fence. He then focused on a shed near the area.

Porras said his partner saw a leg in the shed and told the person to “come out with your hands”.

A female then came out and Porras added that he was expecting a shootout since they found multiple footprints.

Porras added that a man eventually came out of the shed.

The defense then asked Porras how he knew it was Chavez who came out of the shed. Porras answered stating that he got a look at his face and that his hair was unique.

After recess the state called three more witnesses to the stand two were Crime Scene Investigators with the El Paso County Sherriff’s Office.

Michelle Flahive-Lefebvre, a witness, said she collected evidence and took pictures fo the scene in 2019.

Flahive-Lefebvre testified that she collected over a dozen 9 millimeter [gun] shell casings that were on the floor.

Genesis Villa , a witness, said the night of the incident she was notified of an officer involved shooting.

Villa performed a Gun Shot Residue kit, GSR, on Facundo Chavez in an interview room. She also collected clothing and shoes from Chavez.

Per a search warrant Villa also collected evidence from a white BMW that was registered to Facundo Chavez.

Villa said she collected ammunition, THC vials and a magazine from a weapon. She also swabbed the car for blood.

The last witness of the day was a Forensic Scientist with the Texas Department of Transportation, Christine Ceniceros.

Ceniceros’s testimony lasted over an hour and explained how she swabbed the evidence gathered for DNA.

She also said they found red staining on a gun.

Ceniceros also stated that blood was found on the shoes and shirt of Chavez that matched the DNA of Deputy Peter Herrera.

Day three of court finished before 5 p.m. and will resume on Monday at 9 a.m.