Prosecutors await DNA testing in Tyler capital murder case

SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler man charged with capital murder from a shooting that killed a teenager last year will await the results of DNA testing before his case can continue. According to our news partner KETK, 20-year-old Andres Urrutia is one of two men charged with killing 17-year-old Jesse McNeely. He was shot at a home on Omega Drive, a neighborhood near downtown Tyler last June. Urrutia was arrested days later along with 21-year-old Lorenzo Martinez in Galveston. They are being held on bonds of more than $1 million.

The hearing was in the 114th District Court in front of Judge Austin Jackson. Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman represented the prosecution. Putman stated in court that several items had been sent to the DPS lab in Garland and is awiting the results. He does not know when they will be back, but is hoping to have more information in a week or two.

The next hearing for Urrutia is scheduled for early October. Urrutia was also one of several young men accused last year of brutally assaulting a friend after the victim allegedly “snitched” on them to law enforcement.

An arrest warrant obtained at the time alleged that the victim called police after his sister got into a heated argument with her boyfriend, who also knew the victim. As a result, several other men allegedly jumped the victim at Hillside Park in Tyler. Several men, including Urrutia, threw punches at him and knocked him unconscious by striking the victim with a gun, according to the court documents. Urrutia visited a friend in the Smith County Jail and allegedly told him about the attack in the park, saying they threw the victim into a ditch. He the said he didn’t want to give any more details “because the phone was recorded.”