Jurors were seated Monday to hear the trial of a 23-year-old man charged in a deadly shooting last year at a north Lubbock club's parking lot.
Victor Yanez, who is represented by Troy Nicholson and Matt Morrow, is expected to return Wednesday to the 364th District Court where he will enter a plea to the charge of murder filed against him in the April 14, 2025, shooting death of 38-year-old Joshua Rios
.Murder carries a punishment of five years to life in prison.
The trial recessed abruptly Tuesday morning after District Judge William Eichman gave defense attorneys time to review video evidence that was recently filed in the case.
Yanez, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since April 17, 2025, is accused of shooting Rios from
a vehicle that was driving away from the El Santiago Club parking lot.
His charge stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation that began after Lubbock police officers responding to a shots fired call at the club located in the 1800 block of Clovis Road, found Rios suffering a gunshot wound.
Rios was taken to University Medical Center where he died.
Yanez was identified as a suspect in the shooting after investigators obtained video from the club's security cameras and spoke with a handful of witnesses who said he was at the club that night with a group of women, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with his arrest warrant.
Investigators with the Metro Unit spoke with a club employee who said before the shooting Rios argued with a woman at the club near closing time, the warrant states.
Investigators learned the woman was dating Yanez's sister at the time.
The employee told investigators that the woman with whom Rios argued arrived at the club with her girlfriend and another woman. Meanwhile, he said a man, later identified as Yanez, and two other women joined them, the warrant states.
He said Rios and the woman went outside to continue arguing, which appeared to be de-escalating, the employee reportedly told investigators.
Meanwhile, one of the woman's friends told investigators that two of the women in their group went to Yanez to tell them about the argument, the warrant states.
The employee reportedly told investigators he saw Yanez walk up to Rios in what appeared to be an attempt to intimidate him, the warrant states.
Investigators spoke with the woman with whom Rios argued and she said she became upset with him after he commented on her appearance, the warrant states.
However she said she handled the issue, saying Rios was not a threat, the warrant states.
The club's security camera video showed Rios and the woman shaking hands at the end of their encounter, the warrant states.
The woman said she heard gunshots as she and her friends left in her Honda and she saw Rios fall to the ground, the warrant states.
However, the woman denied to investigators that Yanez was part of her group at the club, the warrant states.
Meanwhile, the video from the club's security cameras also showed the shooter, who resembled Yanez, get into the front passenger seat of a silver Hyundai, which could be seen traveling slowly as it passed Rios.
The woman driving the vehicle, who was Yanez's girlfriend at the time, admitted to arriving at the club in the silver Hyundai but declined to answer any questions about the shooting without her lawyer present, the warrant states.
The employee told investigators that before walking up to Rios, he reportedly heard Yanez say, "I'm going to blow his --- down," before entering the vehicle, the affidavit states.
Meanwhile, the video showed the front passenger extend an arm and fire several shots at Rios, the warrant states.
A warrant for Yanez's arrest was issued two days after the shooting and he surrendered at the Lubbock County Detention Center the next day.
Gabriel Monte is the criminal justice reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas. Have a news tip for him? Email him at gmonte@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Murder trial begins for suspect in Lubbock El Santiago bar shooting
