FAYETTEVILLE -- A jury has been selected and opening arguments are underway in the murder trial of Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez, who police say was driving the car during a fatal drive-by shooting in Springdale three years ago.
Three men were standing near a car on Savage Street in Springdale in April 2015 when four men in a blue Ford Focus pulled up and demanded to know their gang affiliations. One of the three said he was in a gang, and one of the people in the car opened fire killing Jimmy Rodriguez, 20.
Vasquez-Sanchez, 21, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to the unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. Vasquez-Sanchez was days shy of his 18th birthday when the shooting occurred and is charged as an adult.
Rodolfo Alberto Martinez, the gunman, was convicted in August 2017 of capital murder, two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of committing a terroristic act. Martinez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jose Andrew Delatorre pleaded guilty in September 2017 to accomplice to second-degree murder. Lindsay sentenced Delatorre to 20 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction.
The other person in the car was a 13-year-old juvenile. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and court proceedings.
Martinez and Delatorre were 21 when they were convicted.
NW News on 08/23/2018