Quinones found not guilty of murder, aggravated assault

Pennylynn Webb & Stuart Whitaker, Palestine Herald-Press, Texas
·3 min read

Mar. 17—An Anderson County jury found Richard Garcia Quinones not guilty of the murder of Jesus Vigil-Limon, and aggravated assault of his brother, Jose Vigil-Limon Thursday, March 16.

While Quinones was found not guilty in this trail, he is still being held at the Anderson County Jail on a parole violation from June 7, 2020 and felony assault charges, trial date pending.

Both State and defense rested Wednesday evening. The jury went into deliberation at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday. An hour later presiding judge, the Honorable Deborah Oakes Evans recessed the jury until 9 a.m. Thursday where they continued deliberations until 11:45 a.m.

"I respect the decision of the jury, although I respectively disagree with them, especially in light of the DNA evidence that showed Quinones to have been at the scene," said District Attorney Allyson Mitchell. "Our jury system is the greatest in the world, and again, although I respect what they did, the DA's Office believes the evidence was sufficient for a conviction."

The murder trial of Quinones began Monday, March 13 in the 87th District Court with Judge Deborah Oakes Evans presiding. Jury selection was conducted Monday morning and the trial began at 3 p.m. The jury was made up of eight women and four men with and a male alternate. The jury was predominately white with two African-Americans and no Hispanic jurors.

Quinones was being represented by Attorney Stanley Sokolowski. District Attorney Allyson Mitchell and her Assistant DA Scott Holden represented the State. Interpreters were used for both the defendant and witnesses in this trail.

During the trial, Mitchell and Holden presented police body camera video of Jose naming Quinones as his assailant and an interrogation interview of Quinones. They also produced DNA blood evidence of the Vigil-Limon brothers that was found on Quinones' clothing.

According to the June 2020 police reports, it was shortly after midnight on June 7, 2020, when officers found brothers Jose Vigil-Limon with severe lacerations to his face and hands, and Jesus Vigil-Limon, lying on the ground, with severe lacerations to his head and body, outside of their home in the 100 block of Ferguson Street.

Jose told the court he drove up to the house, got out of the vehicle and went to the utility shed to plug in the outdoor lights. Before he got to the shed, he was attacked. He said he was hit in the back of the head three time and then he was struck multiple times, over various areas of the body, by his attacker with a machete, even losing a finger. Jose said he saw a white vehicle he identified as Quinones,' and heard what he thought was his voice but did not actually see Quinones.

Marcelo Servalde, Jesus and Joses' brother-in-law, told the court how he found the brothers covered in blood. He told the court he also saw a white vehicle, he identified as Quinones,' leave in a hasty manner.