COLDSPRING, Texas — The man charged with killing five people in San Jacinto County last year appeared before a judge Thursday morning.
A San Jacinto County judge granted Francisco Oropeza’s defense team’s motion for extra legal counsel. Oropeza is accused of going on a deadly rampage on April 28, 2023.
“This is a courthouse that was built in 1914. It’s not designed for air conditioning or internetm, let alone security at a big case, right, so there’s lots of challenges,” San Jacinto County District Attorney Tood Dillon said.
Despite that, the state prosecutor on the case said keeping Oropeza safe to have a fair trial is important. In the hearing, safety issues about conditions in the jail were raised and addressed.
The state said they are going for the death penalty in this capital murder case due to the nature of the crime.
Back in 2023, Oropeza's neighbor, William Garcia, told KHOU 11 there were 15 people inside the home to join Garcia's wife on a church retreat when Oropeza opened fire. Oropeza was able to escape after allegedly killing five people inside the house, including three women, a child, and a teen.
This led to a four-day manhunt where several agencies were involved, and the defense team for Oropeza said they are still trying to get details on ballistics and possible DNA from those agencies.
“Each agent within that agency who's involved will write a report if you can understand the magnitude of the evidence that’s out there” Anthony Osso, defense attorney, said. "It’s our job to figure who did so that we get everything."
There is another discovery status hearing scheduled for August to go over what evidence was collected before a trial date can be set for Oropeza.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story attributed 15 people being in the house at the time of the shooting to prosecutors. That information came from Oropeza's neighbor in our reporting on this story last year.
