Moyses Mejia Murder Trial Begins | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Fresno, CA Manuel Villegas is the second witness to testify against Moises Mejia.

Villegas: "Si .."

Interpreter: "Yes, it's him."

A Spanish language interpreter helped the taxi cab driver identify Mejia in court. Villegas said he drove the defendant to Northwest Fresno in August 2007 without knowing the man's intentions.

Villegas: "Dig que regresar.."

Interpreter: "He just said he was going to come back, he said, I'll be right back."

The prosecutor said Mejia snuck inside the home of his estranged wife Sandra Luevano. Mejia used this revolver in a fit of rage to shoot and kill Luevano and her brother Javier Castro. Two of the woman's little girls saw parts of the crime.

Tharen Higginbotham, Fresno Police Officer said: "I told him to stop. I told him to put his hands up. I had my gun out. I believe I had it pointed at him."

Officer Tharen Higginbotham arrested Mejia without incident. Defense attorney Michael Aed admits his client killed the two.

But describes it as a crime of passion because Mejia thought his estranged wife was dating another man.

Michael Aed, Defense Attorney said: "What I really think happen is he went over there to see her. He was drinking. There's no doubt about that. His blood alcohol level was comatose levels for the average drinker. He suspected she was with another man obviously."

Turns out, the man inside was Sandra's brother

Instead of a murder conviction, the defense asked the jury for the lesser offense: Manslaughter.

On Tuesday, testimony continues with two of Sandra's little girls who witnessed the killings.