BELL COUNTY, Texas — Thursday morning, the State called more witnesses to the stand, including the victim's brother, Josh Rios, in the murder trial of Caysen Allison. He's on trial for the stabbing death of classmate Joe Ramirez.
The State put pressure on Rios, questioning why he left out information on how the fight started during his first encounter with police. Rios explained he was going through a lot of emotions while he was waiting for his brother at the hospital to get out of surgery. He said, "I was going through a lot of emotions, my brother was in the hospital going into surgery, my brother was stabbed and killed."
As the defense continued to ask about left-out information, Rios told the court, “Anything that was asked, they obtained.”
Before Rios testified, Belton police Captain Richard Spurgeon took the stand. He spoke with Rios at the hospital after the stabbing. He said he didn't feel like Rios, quote: "was very forthcoming,” in that initial interview.
After objections from the state, the jury was shown Captain Spurgeon’s body camera footage from inside the school the morning of May 3, 2022, and from the initial questioning with Rios later that day.
The Captain's body camera footage from his time at the hospital captured Rios' statement to investigators. In it, he said the fight between Caysen and Joe was over a girl, but he wasn’t sure about much more. He also did not list all the names of the boys on the bathroom because he says he wasn’t aware of everyone in there.
In the body camera footage at the school, an officer can be heard on the phone saying that Allison is 18, and that police had to let him know his attorney was at the police station, but they “didn’t have to put a rush on it.”
The defense pointed out that the school lockdown was released at 11:45, while Caysen Allison didn’t receive medical care until after 12 p.m.
During cross-examination, the State asked Rios how long he had been at the hospital for before that interview with Spurgeon.
Josh told the jury he had been there 3 to 4 hours and quote, “My brother’s life was on my mind”
The last witness to take the stand was Caysen Allison’s Mother, Denise Allison. The defense asked her about what happened once she arrived home to see Caysen. She explained she took two photos of Caysen. Those photos show blood on his face and a busted lip. She says she took those photos because she “wanted to make sure it was documented.”
The Defense rested, and the State rested with no further questions.
Friday morning court is expected to continue with the Judge expected to finalize the charges against 21-year-old Caysen Allison.
The jury has been released until Monday when they will hear closing arguments. Closing arguments on both sides are expected to take up to 75 minutes per side.
