VICTORIA, Texas - News 4 WOAI is there as a neighbor accused of killing the 76-year-old matriarch of a popular San Antonio restaurant family is set to stand trial. Joe Estrada Jr., 19, is charged with capital murder in the 2008 killing of Viola Barrios, who ran San Antonio's Los Barrios and La Hacienda de los Barrios eateries.
Opening arguments in the 19-year-old's trial began Monday in Victoria. News 4 WOAI's Janet Kwak is in the courtroom relaying updates here on WOAI.com...
Trial update: 2:45 p.m.
"Firefighter continues giving testimony in case."
Previous updates
12:04 p.m. update:
"Defense cross examines firefighter to try to discount state's burglary theory. Jury breaks for lunch until 1:30 p.m."
11:23 a.m. update:
"Neighbor Diana Morales tells jury she saw Viola Barrios watering her plants on night of her murder.
Prosecutors call San Antonio Fire Department firefighter Steven Watts as next witness. He tells jury he saw Barrios' room filled with smoke and couldn't see much. But when he spotted someone's body inside the room, he alerted other firefighters."
10:56 a.m. update:
"Defense witness, Diana Morales, neighbor of Estrada and Barrios, takes the stand."
10:09 a.m. update:
"State gives opening statement, outlining how Estrada broke into Barrios home and shot her in the head with an arrow. Prosecutors say Estrada stole Barrios' credit cards to buy gas and then set her home on fire. They claim he also got a haircut, bought computer items, had breakfast with a friend, went to Fiesta with a friend, and bragged to friends and strangers about having a new Mercedes and credit cards (Barrios'). Authorities found the same make and type of arrowhead used in Barrios' murder inside Estrada's home. Prosecutors say Estrada killed Barrios in the course of burglarizing her home.
Estrada kept his head rested in his hands during entire statement. He has pleaded 'not guilty.'
Diana Barrios, the victim's younger daughter, is testifying now."
Janet Kwak will be providing updates throughout the day. Check back often...
AP: Prosecutors say teen killed Viola Barrios, then went on spending spree
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
VICTORIA, Texas (AP) -- A teenager living next door killed the founder of a popular San Antonio restaurant with an arrow before setting her house ablaze and bankrolling a spending spree on her credit cards, prosecutors told a jury Monday.
Joe Estrada Jr. pleaded not guilty, then listened as Bexar County prosecutors laid out how the 19-year-old allegedly killed the matriarch of the busy Los Barrios restaurant in San Antonio in 2008 and then brashly flaunted her stolen money and car around town.
Viola Barrios, who was born in Mexico and opened Los Barrios in 1979, was found dead with an arrowhead lodged in her skull. Prosecutors say Estrada killed his 76-year-old neighbor before stealing her silver Mercedes and credit cards.
Bexar County assistant district attorney Tamara Strauch recounted to jurors how Estrada, hours after Barrios was killed, allegedly bragged about his new car while getting his hair cut and highlighted at an upscale shopping mall.
"He said, `Hey Ricky, what do you drive?"' Strauch said Barrios told a hairstylist before pulling out a set of keys. "`I drive a Mercedes."'
Patrick Hancock, Estrada's attorney, postponed making an opening statement to jurors until later in the trial. Estrada was 18 when he was arrested.
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed said the trial will likely take several weeks, with the state expected to trot out witnesses into next week.
The trial was moved about 120 miles away to Victoria because of intense media coverage.
Nestled well north of the more touristy River Walk, Los Barrios grew into a landmark adored by locals and in-the-know out-of-towners. In 2004, the family opened a second restaurant, La Hacienda de los Barrios, near the city's wealthy northern suburbs.
Diana Barrios Trevino, Viola's daughter, wrote a family cookbook and has appeared on the Food Network and on ABC's "Good Morning America" with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. She testified that her mother, despite getting older, was in good health and still involved in the restaurant.
"She opened and closed. She always served (customers) with grace," Barrios Trevino said.
According to prosecutors, Estrada broke into the home in April 2008 through one of the few windows not protected by burglar bars.
Gasoline was used to a fuel a fire, Strauch said.
Prosecutors say Estrada then embarked on a daylong spending spree. He allegedly used two of Barrios' credit cards to buy a shirt at a designer store, around $800 in electronics, a cell phone and to get his hair styled.
After Estrada's arrest, Strauch said he kept repeating, "I'm sorry. I did it."
Prosecutors say Estrada's family lived next door to Barrios for several years. Barrios had sold her home and was scheduled to move out less than two weeks before she died.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
