Jury deadlocks in Antonio Perez weeklong murder trial
A judge declared a mistrial Friday after a jury said they could not reach a verdict after a weeklong murder trial.
Antonio Perez, 39, was charged with one count of first-degree murder after police said he killed Alvaro Garcia Gardea on Aug. 23, 2020. After his arrest, a judge ordered the jail to hold Perez until his case went to trial. Court records show he's been in jail since.
According to an affidavit, police believe Perez killed Garcia Gardea at the outset of an argument. Police said Garcia Gardea's son witnessed part of the ordeal after driving his father to an apartment complex on the 1900 block of Solano Drive.
On Monday, a jury was seated and sworn in shortly before Perea launched the trial. Court records show the trial is scheduled to last five days. But the jury returned to court on Friday and declared they were hopelessly deadlocked.
The case will likely be retried in the coming months. As of the publication of this article, Perez remains in jail.
Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached by email at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Jury deadlocks in Antonio Perez weeklong murder trial
