CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A trial date has been set in the capital murder trial of Joseph Tejeda.
Tejeda is accused of killing 21-year-old Breanna Wood and leaving her remains in a box wrapped in plastic back in 2016. That container was later found in an abandoned building near Robstown, Texas.
During a hearing Friday, the judge set the capital murder trial to begin next January. The long wait for a trial will give the assistant attorney general time to go through stacks of documents handed over by the Nueces County District Attorney's Office.
It was back in April when we learned the Attorney General's Office would proceed with the case instead of the Nueces County District Attorney's Office. At that time, Assistant AG James Haugh said he was handed 11 boxes containing various documents from the DA's Office and is still going through stacks of information in order to prepare for the trail.
Meanwhile, several motions were filed by Tejeda's attorney. All were denied except for one that has to do with getting documents from the Nueces County DA's Office. Those documents include autopsy reports done by Dr. Adel Shaker, the former Nueces County Chief Medical Examiner who is now under investigation after being charged with tampering or falsifying a government record, unauthorized practice of medicine, and abuse of a corpse.
Shaker was served two subpoenas to produce documents to the court for Tejeda's trial. He was also in the courtroom on Friday and was called to the stand where he pleaded the Fifth. However, Shaker said that will not affect whether he will take the stand during the trial in January.
Meanwhile, a trial date was also set for Sandra Vasquez, an accused accomplice in the murder of Wood. She faces capital murder charges and her trial was set for March.
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