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Opening arguments begin Tuesday in Torres trial

Staff report

Opening arguments start at 9 a.m. today in the murder trial of accused child killer Noe Torres.

Prosecutors and the defense wrapped up jury selection Monday under heavy security ordered by District Court Chief Judge Drew Tatum.

Torres is accused of participating in a late night gang-style retaliation shooting. Prosecutors allege Torres and three others already convicted sprayed a Clovis home with nine bullets, one striking 10-year-old Carlos Perez in the head while he slept. The child died soon after in a Lubbock hospital.

Torres fled Clovis shortly after the killing in 2005 and was on the run for seven years before he was captured in Mexico, hiding out in a religious compound.

Torres has insisted he is innocent in numerous communications with the media while on the run. His capture in Mexico was in part because he wrote a letter to Gov. Susana Martinez in 2012, asking her to intervene and get the murder charges dropped.

Martinez, a former prosecutor, was incensed by Torres’ appeal for help and worked with Mexican authorities to finally bring Torres back to Curry County to face trial.

The trial is scheduled to last two weeks before Tatum, who was assigned the case after the retirement of Judge Ted Hartley.

District Attorney Andrea Reeb is arguing the case for the prosecution. Los Lunas attorney Stacey Ward is Torres’ court-appointed lawyer.

Reeb said the jury is made up of whites, Hispanics and African-Americans.

Ramped up security measures at the Curry County Courthouse include limiting access to one door.

Tatum has also banned all cell phones, electronics, bags, purses and packages from the building for the duration of the trial.