Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of two people charged with a 2016 double homicide in Snyder.
Juan Ramon Barron, 26, and Jamai Nicole Barron, 31, both of Springtown, will face first degree murder and second degree felony aggravated assault charges when the trial begins in 132nd District Court.
Officials mailed out 170 jury summons for the trial. Testimony in District Judge Ernie B. Armstrong’s courtroom will begin either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, depending on how quickly the jury is empaneled.
The two defendants are charged in the Jan. 24, 2016 shooting and stabbing deaths of Joshua Hoover, of Snyder, and Benjamin Bruns, of Victoria. Police said the bodies were located under a house in the 2100 block of Ave. Z in Snyder.
An article in the Jan. 25, 2016 edition of the Snyder Daily News stated that Snyder Police Department officers were dispatched to the neighborhood shortly before 9 a.m. on the offense date in response to a suspicious vehicle parked in the road. Upon arrival, officers located the vehicle with its engine running by the mailboxes.
Shortly afterward, the defendants went to the law enforcement center, where Jamai Barron reported two people had broken into their house at approximately 4 a.m. that day.
Police records stated that Jamai Barron commented that two men had tried to break into the house, and they had killed them. The two defendants then led police to the site where the bodies were located, police records stated.
Juan Barron was indicted for murder in both men’s death, while Jamai Barron was indicted for murdering Hoover.
The pair was also indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with physical evidence. Jamai Barron also was indicted on second degree felony possession of a controlled substance for allegedly possessing more than one gram, but less than four grams, of cocaine at the time of her arrest.
The tampering with physical evidence and drug charges will not be tried next week.
The defendants were subsequently freed on bonds totaling $365,000.
District Attorney Ben Smith will prosecute the case. Jamai Barron is represented by Abilene attorney Anne-Marie Gillespie, while Bruce Patton of Nacogdoches will defend Juan Barron.
If convicted of murder, the defendants face a potential prison sentence of between five and 99 years, or life, in prison. Aggravated assault carries a potential sentence of between two and 20 years in prison.
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