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A jury has been selected in the death penalty trial of a 20-year-old Brownsville man accused of shooting and killing a San Benito police officer after an hourslong chase across Cameron County, District Attorney Luis V. Saenz confirmed.
Rogeilo Martinez is accused of killing San Benito Police Department Lt. Milton Resendez — a 27-year veteran of the department — on Oct. 17, 2023 following a chase that began on South Padre Island, continued to Brownsville and then to San Benito where the officer died.
After the shooting, authorities say the chase headed back to Brownsville where it ended near the Gateway International Bridge after the Texas Department of Public Safety disabled the vehicle.
Martinez is charged with capital murder of a peace officer and six counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer and two counts of evading arrest.
Should he be convicted, prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Martinez was 18 at the time of the shooting.
His co-defendant, 26-year-old Mexican national Rodrigo Axel Espinosa Valdez, previously pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder and is expected to testify when testimony begins in the trial.
The trial is expected to begin on Oct. 5 at 8:30 a.m., Saenz said.
Martinez has pleaded not guilty.