TEXAS CITY, Texas - The state is expected to rest its case next week in the trial of a Texas City man charged with murder, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Saul Vargas, 23, was arrested in July and charged with murder, four years after the slaying of Ramiro Orornio of Bayview, Texas City police said.
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In her opening arguments Tuesday in Galveston's 212th District Court, Galveston County Assistant District Attorney Xochitl Vandiver-Gaskin accused Vargas of intentionally driving his automobile into Orornio, who was standing on the side of the road on June 26, 2004, near FM 1765 and state Highway 146.
"He definitely murdered the victim, who was 25 at the time," Vandiver-Gaskin told the jury, noting four people witnessed the incident.
Vargas' defense attorney Kevin Rekoff told the jury his client had a long history with Orornio and that Vargas acted in self-defense.
Orornio thought Vargas owed him money because when Orornio was in jail he temporarily gave Vargas his unlicensed automobile.
The car was impounded, and when Orornio was freed, he expected Vargas to pay the impounding fee, Rekoff said.
"This is where friendships die - over money," Rekoff told the jury.
Rekoff said Orornio was the aggressor, and when Vargas pulled over to try to confront Orornio, Vargas and his passengers were pelted with objects.
With all of the windows in Vargas' car broken, he ducked his head and pushed "the gas peddle to get out of there," Rekoff said. " Evidence will show he was hit by the vehicle and died of his own making."
Orornio suffered internal injuries and bled to death, Vandiver-Gaskin said. Authorities never recovered Vargas' automobile, she said.
