Brian Davila Murder Case Reaches Jury Selection After More Than Six Years, Trial to Begin Next Week
By Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2026 Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
Jury selection began Thursday, November 12, 2026 in the murder case against Luis Alonso Perez Jr., more than six years after 19-year-old Brian Davila was shot and killed in Eagle Pass. Testimony in the trial is expected to begin next week.
The proceedings marked a significant development in a case that has remained unresolved since Davila’s death on May 23, 2020. More than six years and five months have passed since the shooting.
Davila was shot outside a business in the 2200 block of El Indio Highway following an altercation. He was transported to Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.
Authorities alleged Perez fled the scene before officers located and arrested him at his residence. He was charged with murder in 2020 and indicted by a Maverick County grand jury in July 2022.
Thursday’s jury selection began more than four years after that indictment. The process will determine the jurors who will hear the evidence and decide the pending murder charge.
Perez previously received a prison sentence in a separate case involving an incident at Davila’s residence approximately five months before the fatal shooting.
In September 2024, Perez was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit aggravated assault. That charge stemmed from a December 19, 2019, incident.
Those proceedings lasted approximately three weeks and concluded around 2:45 a.m. September 13, 2024. Following his conviction, Perez was remanded to a state correctional facility.
Prosecutors presented the December incident as part of a sequence of events leading up to the May shooting. The burglary conviction did not resolve the murder charge, which requires a separate determination based on the evidence presented in this trial.
The information available for this report did not establish the reasons for the lengthy delay in bringing the murder case before a jury.
For Davila’s family and those who knew him, the start of jury selection marked another step toward a determination in the case involving his death.
With jury selection underway and testimony expected next week, the proceedings will address the murder allegation that has remained pending for more than six years.
Perez is presumed innocent of the pending murder charge unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
