BELL COUNTY, Texas — It was another packed day in the 146th courtroom where Caysen Allison is on trial for the 2022 murder of Belton High School Senior Joe Ramirez. Law enforcement took the stand Tuesday morning. Officers described what the first interaction with Allison was like after Joe Ramirez was stabbed.
Day six of the trial continued with more witness testimony. Temple Police Department Officer Keith Esquivel took the stand, saying he was the officer who found a black folding knife off the side of the road near 317 and poison oak by a gas station.
The jury was shown images of that black folding knife with blood marks, along with another brown knife also found around the same area.
Belton Police Department Detective Gene Cole was next to testify. Cole interviewed Allison the morning of the stabbing. He explained to the jury that the first question he asked Allison was where the knife was. Allison answered that he threw it out of his car window on his way home after leaving the school that morning. Cole also stated that Allison gave them the information they needed to help locate the knife.
After the knife was recovered, Cole showed the knife to Allison— which he confirmed that was the knife used. Cole said when they showed Allison the knife, his demeanor changed from “calmness” to getting “sick.” He said Allison then lay down on the floor, said he was lightheaded and threw up on the floor.
During first initial interview questioning with Cole, Allison said he got the knife from his stepdad's closet, and he had it because he knew if he saw Josh and Joe in the bathroom, there was going to be a fight.
Cole also stated, Allison didn’t remember how many times he stabbed Joe.
During that interview with Allison, Cole took images of the injuries Allison sustained from the fight. The jury saw images of scratches on Allison's hands, a forehead and ear injury and cuts around his lip Detective Cole also pointed out blood on Allison's shirt, but the defense claims that the “blood” is actually paint from a school project and that it can't be proven to be blood because it was never tested.
A few days ago the defense claimed the lock plays a pivotal role in the investigation, but Cole has video footage taken three days after the fight showing the lock not in working order. The defense is claiming self-defense and continues to claim the police failed in their investigation.
Court is expected to continue Wednesday morning at 9:15.
Previous coverage on the trial can be found here.
