Accused blames killing on another

One more witness to testify in family feud

A San Antonio man accused of killing his cousin in a drive-by shooting after an argument told a Bexar County jury that while he drove the car that night, a passenger in his car — whom he would not name — fired the shots.

Edison Carraman, 24, is accused of murder in the death of his cousin, Kristopher Carraman, 21, on March 27, 2020. Testimony from numerous relatives who witnessed the shooting established that the defendant had started dating the victim’s ex-girlfriend, who is the mother of his sons. Relatives also testified that there was a rift in the family.

Testifying in his defense, Edison Carraman said he never spoke to the victim that night, but received angry and profane text messages and phone calls from Kristopher Carraman’s uncle, Gonzalo Carraman.

Earlier in the trial, Gonzalo Carraman testified that he wanted to intervene between the two because he felt it was wrong for his cousin to be dating his nephew’s ex-girlfriend.

On Thursday, Edison Carraman told the jury that text messages and profanity-riddled phone calls made him feel “belittled,” so he agreed to meet Gonzalo Carraman at a park across the street from his home on Pyron Avenue the night of the shooting. The defendant said he picked up “a friend” so that someone could “have his back” in case something happened.

Under direct questioning by defense attorney Raymond Martinez, Edison Carraman said he kept a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in his car, which his passenger saw when Carraman opened the glove compartment. He said that as he drove slowly down the street, the passenger “pulled out the gun, rolled down his window and stuck his hand out the window” as they approached the park.

“I was telling him, ‘Don't shoot at the house. If you are going to shoot, shoot straight up,' ” the defendant told the jury.

Carraman said that after several shots were fired, he drove the passenger to his home nearby. “He stayed with the gun,” Carraman said.

The defendant said he did not know that someone had been shot until he was arrested and went before a magistrate.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor David Martin, Carraman would not name the passenger.

“I can't answer because I fear for my family's safety,” he told the court.

Martin asked, “You actually encouraged him to shoot the gun?”

“I said shoot it in the air,” Edison Carraman replied. “I didn't think he was going to shoot nobody.”

San Antonio police never recovered the weapon used in the shooting. An expert said gunshot residue tests were inconclusive on Edison Carraman, who was arrested after he had taken a shower.

His testimony followed that of two prosecution witnesses, Gonzalo Carraman and Audrey Carraman, who are siblings to each other and Kristopher Carraman's uncle and aunt. They conceded that their testimony in court was inconsistent with their witness statements immediately after the shooting.

Audrey Carraman cried as she said that she was too overcome with emotion the night she performed CPR on her nephew, and mistakenly said Edison Carraman was the driver. She said she knows now he was the passenger. Gonzalo Carraman said he saw the shots come from the roof of the car, “from the moonroof,” and said he “relives it every day.”

The defense is expected to call one more witness Friday morning before both sides present closing arguments.

If convicted, Edison Carraman faces up to life in prison.