12 Oct Court of Criminal Appeals Affirms Death Sentence in Edinburg Trooper Shooting

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the death sentence of Victor Alejandro Godinez, who was convicted of capital murder for shooting DPS Trooper Moises Sanchez in Edinburg in 2019, according to the court’s opinion.

The court’s unanimous opinion, issued Oct. 8, found no reversible error. A Hidalgo County jury convicted Godinez in January 2024 and sentenced him to death. Appeals in death penalty cases go to the court automatically.

Godinez’s main argument was that medical care, not the gunshot, caused Sanchez’s death. His lawyers pointed to a surgery and the removal of a breathing tube, which they called premature. The court said no evidence in the record supported that. Doctors testified that the gunshot wounds set off the complications that killed Sanchez, and the court said Godinez’s conduct was the only cause of the injury. The court also rejected his challenges to the jury instructions and to prosecutors’ access to his jail calls, mail and visitor logs.

On April 6, 2019, around 7:30 p.m., Godinez ran a red light in Edinburg and hit a truck carrying a man, his girlfriend and her two sons. A witness who called 9-1-1 smelled strong alcohol coming from Godinez’s truck. Godinez said he needed air, then returned to the truck, reached inside for something and ran off on foot. He later told investigators he had been drinking.

The witness flagged down Sanchez, who was in uniform and driving a marked DPS vehicle. Sanchez spotted Godinez crossing a field, turned on his lights and followed him into a subdivision. Surveillance video showed Sanchez pulling up behind Godinez as he jogged down a sidewalk. Sanchez got out and told him to stop.

Godinez drew a pistol and fired several shots, and Sanchez fell. Godinez then walked toward him and kept firing before running off again.

Sanchez was shot in the head and the right shoulder. Surgeons operated twice to relieve the damage and swelling in his brain. Doctors told his wife he was very unlikely to survive the night. He survived the surgery, stayed in a coma for about a month and never regained the ability to walk, talk, move his limbs or communicate. He died Aug. 24, 2019, after a surgery to replace part of his skull. The medical examiner testified that he died of complications from the gunshot wounds.

Police from Edinburg and McAllen, DPS and the Texas Rangers searched through the night. They set up a command center, evacuated a restaurant and blocked off neighborhoods.

After midnight, Edinburg police Investigator Jessie Moreno and Sgt. Sandra Tapia were searching in an unmarked car with its lights on when a resident waved them down. He said he had just seen a barefoot man walking past his house, who had commented on the heavy police presence. The officers found Godinez, got out wearing tactical police vests and told him to stop. When Moreno ordered him to show his hands, Godinez drew his pistol and fired several shots. Moreno and Tapia took cover, and Moreno returned fire while Tapia radioed for help. Both suffered minor injuries.

Around 12:30 a.m., DPS Trooper Eugenio Garcia heard the gunfire and saw a man running. Garcia drew his weapon and ordered him to stop, and Godinez got on the ground and surrendered. He was unarmed. He told officers he had “already threw” his gun and showed them where to find it. They recovered a .357 Magnum revolver near a cul-de-sac. Godinez also said he had been shot, and he was taken to a hospital.

After he was released from the hospital, the Texas Rangers arrested him and interviewed him. He admitted he was drinking when he ran the red light. He said he shot Sanchez because he was “drunk” and “scared,” and when asked whether he meant to kill him, he said he “probably did.”

He also confessed to shooting at Moreno and Tapia, saying he ran when his pistol ran out of bullets, then dropped it and surrendered. He told the Rangers he had applied to the police academy two years earlier and was rejected, and he denied planning to shoot officers. He was convicted of two counts of attempted capital murder for shooting at Moreno and Tapia. Those convictions weren’t part of this appeal.