For a time Wednesday, the rows on the right side of a Charlotte courtroom were filled by families and friends holding space for those who couldnt be there the four people police say were gunned down two years ago by Edward Sanchez. In his opening statement to the jurors in Sanchez first-degree murder trial, prosecutor Jay Ashendorf lingered over each name:
Rosool Harrell, 22, a Xanax dealer who was shot three times in the back outside a Mathews motel on Feb. 22, 2015.
Jonathan Alvarado, 23, his girlfriend Mirjana Puhar, 19, and Jusmar Gonzaga-Garcia, all found dead two days later in a small home not far from uptown Charlotte. Alvarado, known as Cupie, pushed heroin and was shot in the back of the head. Puhar was a former contestant on the TV show, Americas Next Top Model. She was shot twice, once near the throat. Gonzaga-Garcia was hit eight times in all.
As Ashendorf continued, each name and each detail he used of how that person died brought an eruption of sorrow and a sobbing exodus from the nearby rows of relatives. By the time Ashendorf finished his summary of the evidence he believes will convince the 12 jurors of Sanchez guilt, the rows behind him were mostly empty.
Defense attorney Scott Gsell patted his client on the shoulder before telling the jurors that nothing Ashendorf had said minutes before could be considered evidence, and that they must presume Sanchez innocent until the state proves otherwise.
