Trial date set for man in fatal restaurant shooting
Because the prosecution has not offered a plea agreement yet, a tentative trial date was set for the San Luis man who fled to Mexico three years ago after he allegedly shot and killed another man in 2014 outside the entrance of a Yuma restaurant.
Modesto Cortes-Serrillo, who has been in the Yuma County jail since he was extradited back to the country in January, made a brief appearance Wednesday before Judge Stephen Rouff in Yuma County Superior Court.
In providing the court with an update on the status of the case, attorney Jerry Hernandez, of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, who represents Cortes-Serrillo, said that he is still in the process of conducting numerous interviews and that the case is likely to go to trial.
Cortes-Serrillo has been charged with premeditated 1st-degree murder for allegedly fatally shooting 43-year-old Santiago Olivo-Diaz on the evening of April 13, 2014, outside Lin’s Grand Buffet, 2135 E. 16th St., following a verbal altercation inside the restaurant.
He was taken into custody in Mexico City on Dec. 13 on a warrant for his arrest on murder charges that was issued following the shooting and was brought back to Yuma County by U.S. Marshals.
In making the request for a trial date, Hernandez asked the court to set it out as far as possible due to the number of subpoenas he anticipates being served, adding that it would also allow him ample time to wrap up all the interviews.
“I’m not sure if the case is going to trial, but if it does we will be ready,” Hernandez said.
In granting Hernandez’s request, Judge Rouff scheduled Cortes-Serrillo’s trial to begin at 9 a.m. on Nov. 21. He also scheduled a final trial management conference for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 8.
According to Yuma police, on the evening of the shooting Cortes-Serrillo, who was 44-years-old at the time, and Olivo-Diaz, who was also from San Luis, were involved in a disturbance inside the restaurant. After the disturbance became physical, Olivo-Diaz ran outside and was chased by Cortes-Serrillo.
Cortes-Serrillo then allegedly shot Olivo-Diaz multiple times, killing him. Police say CortesSerrillo then fled the scene in a black 1996 Toyota Camry that was later found abandoned in San Luis, Ariz.
Both of Cortes-Serrillo’s children, Daisy Cortes and Modesto Jaime Cortes, were convicted of helping him evade arrest and flee the country following the shooting. Daisy Cortes, who drove her father to Mexico, was sentenced to a year of supervised probation in September 2014. She had pleaded guilty to one count of attempted hindering prosecution in a plea agreement.
Modesto Jaime Cortes, who withheld information about his father’s whereabouts and gave him money, was found guilty of hindering prosecution in February 2015 following a three-day trial. He was also sentenced to a year of supervised probation.