Charges for Trevino were tied up in court, however, because her family and legal team claim she was a victim of sex-trafficking when the 2019 incident took place.
Her legal team and supporters say Trevino was used to lure in the two victims of the shooting with promises of sex. Trevino was just 16 at the time. Baldenegro and Martinez were 18. Attorneys for the other two involved have maintained the sex trafficking claims are false and that Trevino orchestrated the robbery.
Attorneys for Martinez and Baldenegro won a court order in March to show evidence they said disputed the trafficking claims. Lee Bright, representing Martinez, said the evidence showed Trevino was “intimately involved” in the planning of the robbery.
Texas teen, who claims she is a sex trafficking victim, is indicted for the murder of a man who purchased her from her pimp when she was 16
Zephaniah Trevino, 18, was indicted on murder and aggravated robbery in connection with the fatal shooting of Carlos Arajeni-Arriaza Morillo in 2019
The teen was charged with capital murder alongside Philip Baldenegro, who admitted to pulling the trigger, and 20-year-old Jesse Martinez
But Trevino was indicted on murder, which carries a minimum five-year sentence compared to life in prison on a capital murder charge
Her attorney Ashkan Mehryari said decision is disappointing but not surprising
For more than a year in social media and online posts, Trevino’s parents and supporters have made that assertion. They asked for contributions to help support her. The posts depict a young scholar and athlete forced into sex trafficking and drew national attention from celebrities.
Trevino turned 18 in February and has been declared an adult in court. She was a 16-year-old minor when she and the two young men were accused of a robbery that went bad at a Grand Prairie apartment complex.
Carlos Arajeni-Arriaza Morillo, 24, was killed. Another robbery victim was injured but survived.
Now that she is no longer protected from the release of information as a minor, the other attorneys won a court order that allows them to show evidence which they say disputes the sex trafficking claims.