Richard Acosta Jr. takes the stand in capital murder trial

GARLAND, Texas — Richard Acosta Jr., accused of capital murder for his alleged involvement in the murder of three youngsters in Garland greater than a yr in the past, took the stand in his personal protection in Dallas County Criminal Court on Thursday insisting he had no data, earlier than or after, what his son Abel deliberate to do.

“Did you see the firearm?” his protection lawyer Heath Harris requested when Acosta took the witness stand.  

“No,” he mentioned. “I would have tried to do something. I would have tried to stop any situation if he was going to try to harm somebody.”

Abel Acosta remains to be on the run after the Dec. 26, 2021 taking pictures that claimed the lives of 17-year-old Rafael Garcia, 16-year-old Ivan Noyola and 14-year-old Xavier Gonzalez.

Acosta, responding to questions by his personal lawyer, instructed the jury his model of occasions of that evening. He mentioned that after a day of operating errands, together with taking his son Abel to 2 totally different buying malls, he stopped to get Tylenol for his spouse at the comfort retailer. 

He mentioned she suffered a miscarriage that earlier November and wished the ache remedy for continued belly pains. He says that’s why he first seems on surveillance video getting into the comfort retailer alone.

His son Abel, he mentioned, seen youngsters he knew in the retailer and mentioned he was going to confront them to ask a couple of necklace of his that had been stolen.

Acosta mentioned his son was so keen to leap out of the transferring truck that he reached again to seize him. His son, he mentioned, agitated, wrestled out of the t-shirt and obtained out.  

Surveillance video exhibits Abel subsequent sneaking to the entrance door, shirtless, however carrying a hat and a blue surgical masks. Acosta says he heard a number of gunshots subsequent after which noticed Abel operating again to the truck. 

“He opens that back door and said ‘get out of here, somebody’s shooting. Get me out of here,’” Acosta mentioned his son mentioned. Prosecutors confirmed that Acosta by no means took the truck out of park, saved his foot on the brake, after which sped away when his son jumped in the driver’s aspect again door. 

Acosta claimed his son by no means instructed him what occurred, that he himself by no means selected to name 911 about the 20 pictures he heard, and that he didn’t press the difficulty after they obtained house.

“He was simply actual agitated and hostile, a caged animal in the room pacing forwards and backwards. I simply tried to ease off of him. Maybe for half-hour to settle down and he would inform me,” mentioned Acosta.

But he mentioned that his son, with a historical past of operating away, was gone when he went to verify on him in his room an hour later.

“No, sir,” he mentioned when his lawyer requested if he knew the place his son is. “I want him to turn himself in. We don’t know if he’s alive or if he’s breathing or anything. Nobody knows.”

“I have no idea why he had a gun. In his other secret life, I had no idea what was going on.”

And, as for the households who misplaced their three sons that day, Acosta mentioned he considers himself a sufferer, too.

“It’s the most horrible thing. I can’t even imagine how the families feel. We all lost our sons that day. I’ll never get to see my son again,” he mentioned.

Prosecutors grilled him, nevertheless, about how he may have probably not identified about the gun. His son was carrying saggy basketball shorts and the gun had a big clip. 

“You are expecting this jury to believe that your 14-year-old son, wearing flimsy basketball shorts was somehow able to conceal this gun with that extended clip and you never saw it,” prosecutor Stephanie Fargo requested him.

“I never saw him with a weapon ma’am,” Acosta mentioned.

Prosecutors allege that Acosta was a celebration to the triple-murder, encouraging his son to behave and serving to conceal him from arrest.

Testimony in the capital murder trial continues on Friday.