Family of murdered toddler believes wrong charge led to the suspect’s acquittal

San Antonio – The family of Rene Blancas Jr., the toddler killed while sleeping in the back of his family’s vehicle in 2017, is devastated after a jury acquitted the suspect of capital murder.

An all-female jury found Eric Trevino not guilty of capital murder on Wednesday in Rene’s shooting death.

His father, Rene Blancas, said it was a devastating blow for their family. They were shocked and grief-struck all over again. He blames the acquittal on an improper indictment.

Blancas said there’s no doubt in his mind that Trevino murdered his son, but the charge of capital murder indicated that he intended to kill the 3-year-old toddler.

“Do I feel like his intent was to murder my child? No, it wasn’t his intent. But I think he slid off of this as not guilty just through a technicality. Do I feel like he was innocent? No. He’s 100 percent guilty. It’s a technicality in the law,” Blancas said.

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He said the family will never get closure now. Trevino cannot be charged with the same murder.

The couple said they carry an invisible scar that no one can see.

The family has been attending the two-week trial every day. They have been strapped for money and forced to leave work to attend a trial that did not go the way they wanted.

If he was still alive, Rene Blancas Jr. would have been 8 years old. He would have been 9 in a few months. His father says he hurts whenever he sees a child that would be his son’s age today.

“It’s a crappy situation. He’ll never understand what he did to us,” Blancas said. “I was raising my son to be a real man”

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