DALLAS — Mesquite Police Officer Richard Houston was shot and killed outside the Albertson’s grocery store on Dec 3rd, 2021.
Houston was responding to a disturbance on the 1500 block of South Beltline Road in Mesquite. He was a 21-year veteran of the police force and a married father of three children.
Jamie Jaramillo is charged with capital murder. Houston was responding to a disturbance call around 1:40 p.m., where four people were involved in an argument. In the first day of trial, Jaramillo’s daughter told the jury she went to the Albertson’s because her mom wanted to see if he was having an affair. Court documents say Jaramillo was in his truck with another woman.
“His wife and daughter have an app on their phone that follows his truck. When they saw him at Albertson’s, they decided to confront him,” said Jason Hermes, the prosecutor.
Houston went to talk to Jaramillo when he was getting ready to drive off. In body camera footage shown in court, Jaramillo is seen pulling out a gun and shooting Houston, then shooting himself in the head.
“Four shots are fired by the defendant. One of the shots hit Richard right here, below his left chest,” said Hermes.
In court, the prosecutor played the 911 call made by Jaramillo’s daughter.
In the video, you can hear Jaramillo’s daughter say sorry to Officer Houston.
The defense attorney claims Jaramillo has issues with his eyes and that he never saw Houston.
“None of them will be able to tell you he knew the police officer was there. It’s whether Jamie knew he was a police officer. That’s the focus I’m asking you to look at,” said Lalon Peale, the defense attorney.
We also heard from Houston’s wife, Shelly. She told the jury how Houston was her high school sweetheart, and how they had been married for 20 years. They have three teenage children together. Shelly went into the heartbreaking details of when she saw her husband in the emergency room.
In court, jurors also watched heartbreaking footage of the moment Houston was on the ground, lifeless. A fellow officer tried to do CPR on him. Nearly everyone in the entire courtroom was in tears.
The trial will resume tomorrow.