First trial starts in 2017 killing spree
The first of three potential trials began Tuesday for a man accused of killing three people during a 12-day spree last summer.
This week’s trial focuses on the death of Celina Arrellanes, who prosecutors say was sitting in her boyfriend’s car on May 24, 2017, when Yoan Pena Santiesteban opened fire. Arrellanes, 27, was shot in the neck and died the next day.
Prosecutor Neal Speer said during opening statements that Santiesteban forced his thengirlfriend Gloria Chavez to arrange a drug deal with Arrellanes’ boyfriend, Juan Daniel Rincon.
“Yoan, the defendant, told her, ‘Everything that Juan Daniel Rincon has is mine,’ ” Speer said. “This is no longer just a drug deal.”
Police said Rincon got out of his vehicle shortly after he arrived at the trailer park on Zuni where the group agreed to meet. Speer said a white car pulled up, blocking Rincon’s car in. And a man, later identified as Santiesteban, fired multiple
shots while chasing him, killing Arrellanes and injuring another passenger.
Chavez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and agreed to testify against Santiesteban in exchange for a six-year sentence.
But Santiesteban’s attorney, John McCall, said Chavez had taken out a hit on Arrellanes and Rincon.
“This story is complicated,” McCall told the jury. “And it’s complicated in the way that methamphetamine can complicate things.”
He said the state had no physical evidence implicating his client and would rely on witnesses who are not credible — two of whom, he said, were using and selling drugs.
The trial is expected to last through June 26.
Santiesteban is also facing charges in the deaths of Samir AlAbboudy, 44, who was found dead at the Days Inn on Menaul near Princeton on May 14, 2017, and Matthew Severinghaus, 25, who was killed outside of his home in the Foothills on May 26, 2017.