Advertisement

newsCourts

Man on trial in deadly stabbing outside Richardson Kroger

Dallas County prosecutors said Armando Ricardo Navarro randomly stabbed two men outside a Kroger store in Richardson on Aug. 6, 2019.

Arturo Negrete was a devoted employee to a wine distribution company for 15 years and rarely missed work.

But on Aug. 6, 2019, the Dallas man made an unusual request to his wife, Celia Lopez Negrete, that they call in to work and stay home with their two children.

They couldn’t, Celia Negrete told jurors Tuesday on the first day of the murder trial for Armando Ricardo Navarro, the man accused of killing her husband. Their son had a freshman orientation at his high school and she had a busy day ahead at her job. But maybe they could both get off work a little early, she suggested.

Advertisement

Celia Negrete cried on the witness stand in state District Judge Brandon Birmingham’s Dallas County courtroom as she described learning hours later that her husband had been killed in a Richardson Kroger parking lot where he was supposed to set up a wine display inside the store.

Arturo Negrete
Arturo Negrete (Krista Torralva)

Dallas County prosecutors Jason Fine and Bryan Mitchell told jurors that Navarro randomly stabbed two men he didn’t know outside the grocery store before stealing Negrete’s black Nissan Altima, crashing it and running through a North Dallas neighborhood.

The other victim, Juan Carlos Hernandez, survived and testified Tuesday.

Breaking News

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.

Or with:

Navarro, 29, is charged with capital murder. If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Defense lawyers Robbie McClung and Richard Franklin did not dispute that Navarro killed Negrete, 42. But they argued that Navarro was inappropriately charged. They said he should be convicted of the lesser offense of first-degree murder and face a shorter punishment.

Advertisement

Jurors will be allowed to consider consider capital murder and murder. The latter carries a punishment range of five years to life with the possibility of parole after 60 years.

Hernandez, the survivor, told jurors that he went to the Kroger about 9 a.m. to grab a quick breakfast. As Hernandez walked toward the store’s entrance, Navarro asked for a cigarette. Hernandez told him he didn’t smoke and kept walking. Navarro attacked him from behind, Hernandez said. At first, Hernandez didn’t realize he had been stabbed in his neck with a knife.

Advertisement

Hernandez got away. He then took his cellphone from his pocket and snapped a photo of Navarro, who wore a bright orange and yellow safety vest. Hernandez said he was shaken up and left. He drove home and family members later took him to the hospital.

Shortly after, Negrete pulled into the Kroger parking lot and planned to set up the wine display inside. Navarro approached Negrete with a knife and stabbed him multiple times, said Fine, the prosecutor. They don’t know if the men spoke to each other.

The lead Richardson Police Department detective, Sarah Yee, told jurors she believed that Navarro intended to steal Negrete’s car to flee after stabbing Hernandez. He killed Negrete in the course of taking his car, which supports a capital murder charge, she said.

Armando Ricardo Navarro waits for his capital murder trial to start in Judge Brandon...
Armando Ricardo Navarro waits for his capital murder trial to start in Judge Brandon Birmingham's court in Dallas with defense attorney Robbie McClung on Oct. 19, 2021. (Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer)

But McClung, the defense lawyer, said the case hinges on a small disagreement. Police and prosecutors can’t prove Navarro approached Negrete with the intention of stealing the car. Each incident was a separate crime, McClung argued. The difference could mean a lesser sentence and being eligible for parole.

Navarro took Negrete’s car and left him to bleed to death in the parking lot, Fine said. Navarro crashed into the back of a delivery truck on Belt Line Road near South Coit Road. The car’s front bumper was ripped off and Navarro kept driving, leaving it behind.

The delivery truck driver followed Navarro until the car stopped on Knollville Drive about 2 miles away. Navarro ran through a nearby North Dallas neighborhood. A passenger in the truck, Christopher Boykins, told jurors he got out and chased Navarro.

Navarro ran through a house, setting off its security alarm, Boykins said. He dropped a knife and gray shirt in the grass between two houses as police cars arrived, Boykins said.

Lawyers are expected to finish presenting their cases Wednesday.