DALLAS — A Dallas County jury found Richard Acosta Jr. guilty of capital murder Friday after he drove his son to and from a Garland convenience store where police say the 14-year-old shot four teenagers, killing three of them.
Acosta will receive an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Acosta, 34, drove his son, Abel Elias Acosta, to and from a Texaco station the night of Dec. 26, 2021, where police said the boy fatally shot three teenagers and wounded a fourth. The Dallas Morning News typically does not name juveniles suspected of a crime but is making an exception because Abel Acosta, now 15, remains at large and is believed to pose a threat to public safety.
Killed in the shooting were 14-year-old Xavier Gonzalez, 16-year-old Ivan Noyala and 17-year-old Rafael Garcia. A 15-year-old cook, David Rodriguez, who had just started working at the store, was shot in the chest but survived.
The jury deliberated for slightly more than two hours after three and a half days of testimony from witnesses at the chaotic scene, police officers and medical and ballistics experts. Jurors also saw graphic surveillance footage of the killings.
Acosta took the stand in his own defense, saying he didn’t initially know his son was the shooter. But prosecutors presented evidence that alleged otherwise.
Texas’ law of parties allows people involved in a capital murder to be charged with the most severe crime even if they did not pull the trigger.
The courtroom was filled each day with the victims’ loved ones, who squeezed together close in the gallery sharing tissues and reassuring pats on the back when emotions ran high. Photographs of the victims hung at the front of the courtroom during the trial.
Acosta’s loved ones were also in the courtroom, waving goodbye to him as he was escorted out at the end of each day. One woman called out “Richie” and blew him a kiss as he was taken out of the room Friday after the jury left to deliberate.
In closing statements Friday, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot asked the jury to find Acosta guilty, saying the state didn’t have to prove the shooting was planned but that “acting can happen” during the crime.
“As those boys’ lives were slipping away and his son with a hot gun in his hand had created all that smoke and stepped in the back of that car, a reasonable person would have called 911,” Creuzot said. “What does he do? Pedal to the metal and got out of there.”
Defense attorneys Heath Harris and Stephanie Shackelford argued that the state presented evidence based in speculation, whereas Acosta told the jury exactly what happened when he took the stand.
“Richard told you what happened. He explained all those things to you,” Shackelford said. “None of those words are good enough to send this man to prison for the rest of his life.”
Harris said Acosta being “merely present at the time of the offense” doesn’t prove that he knew his son had just killed three people when he drove away.
“They all believe Richard Acosta was the getaway driver, but in order for you to be the getaway driver you have to know what offense you’re driving away from,” he said, adding that prosecutors “need to find something to prove that the offense happened — not just a shooting — but the offense.”
Prosecutor Stephanie Fargo questioned Acosta’s credibility, saying his explanations for his actions were “pure nonsense.”
“I will submit to you that everything that came out of his mouth was a ridiculous explanation and an outright lie,” she said. “This grown man took his 14-year-old son and when the plan was hatched, he encouraged, he directed, he abled in the execution of those three boys. … They never saw it coming.”
