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Mother of Defendant Takes the Stand in Chayse Olivarez's Trial

4 years 4 months 3 weeks ago Tuesday, November 05 2019 Nov 5, 2019 November 05, 2019 6:43 PM November 05, 2019 in News - Local

EDINBURG - It's day five of the trial of Jose Luis Garcia Jr., accused of killing Chayse Olivarez in Starr county two years ago.

When asked about taking Chayse Olivarez' life, the defendant’s mom said "he took it because he thought he was protecting his family.”

The jury will decide how to interpret this statement, but the mom took the stand to tell jurors what happened in the days leading to the murder of Chayse Olivarez.

Testimony addressed the incident when Chayse Olivarez reportedly stole a bag of drugs from Jose Luis Garcia Jr. at gunpoint.

It didn't stop there.

Witnesses including an uncle, a friend, and Garcia's mom said there were other messages from Olivarez threatening not only to pull the trigger on Garcia, but his entire family.

Jose Luis Garcia Jr.'s mom said her son told her about the robbery at gunpoint.

She advised Garcia not to tell police because she believes Rio Grande City law enforcement is infiltrated by criminals including Chayse Olivarez' father.

On Tuesday she admitted that advice was a mistake.

District attorney Omar Escobar asked Garcia's mom about blame and who was at fault in this murder.

Looking directly at the jury, Garcia’s mom said Chayse was a troubled kid who bullied her son.

Then she said Garcia took action because he was protecting his family from someone, he believed, was dangerous.

On Wednesday we expect to hear from more witnesses.

Possibly Chayse Olivarez's dad, who was subpoenaed as a witness for the defense.

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