HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man who was supposed to stand trial Tuesday for the murder of an airman from Houston cut off his monitoring device and fled, prosecutors said.
Giovanni Ornelas, 34, was out of jail on bond for the 2021 shooting death of Albert Castillo Jr., who was home on leave from his U.S. Air Force base in Nebraska.
Jury selection was set to start Tuesday. Instead, Ornelas took off, prosecutor Steven Belt said.
“So hard to say what was in his mind, but I think reality caught up with him, and the evidence was so strong against him that justice was going to happen to him today,” Belt told ABC13.
Castillo’s family has been waiting for three long years.
“We’re supposed to be getting justice. Now, we have to push it further,” Cynthia Ortiz, the victim’s aunt, said.
According to Belt, the state was notified Monday that Ornelas’ GPS device had been turned off and that records showed it was last active near the bus station downtown on …