After two weeks of testimony and two days of deliberating, a Pima County Superior Court jury announced Friday it was unable to reach a unanimous decision in the murder trial of Jesse Dwayne Flemons.
Flemons was indicted in April 2005 on charges of first-degree murder and drive-by shooting in connection with the March 26, 2005, death of Anthony "Gordo" Salaz, 30.
During Flemons' trial, Deputy Pima County Attorney Jonathan Mosher told jurors Salaz and his friend, James Moore, were in the parking lot of the Speakeasy bar at South Wilmot Road and East 22nd Street when Flemons opened fire from a passing car.
Salaz was struck four times, including once in the head, and died the following afternoon.
No one will ever know for sure why Salaz was shot, but there was an ongoing feud between Flemons' brother and Moore, Mosher told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday.
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Not only did Flemons' front-seat passenger, Johntilyn "J.J." Murry, tell detectives Flemons, 29, shot Salaz, but shell casings found at the scene matched those found in Flemons' mother's nightstand, Mosher said.
Defense attorney Bobbi Berry argued it was Murry who shot Salaz, not Flemons.
An anonymous tipster told police to talk to Murry about the shooting and once he fingered Flemons, they never bothered to dig deeper, Berry said.
"J.J. said whatever he needed to say to get out of trouble," Berry said.
Berry also reminded jurors that defense witness Thomas Cortese testified Murry told him he'd shot Salaz.
Murry did not testify at the trial, but jurors were provided transcripts of his testimony at a preliminary hearing.
According to court documents, Murry swallowed some drugs when police tried to arrest him for drug possession in September 2006, and he overdosed and died.
It isn't the first time Flemons has been charged with murder.
Records show that Flemons was sentenced to 22 years in prison for second-degree murder in March 1997, but his conviction was overturned a year later.
According to Arizona Daily Star archives, Flemons shot and killed a man outside a Phoenix Quik Mart in October 1996. At the time, Flemons' attorney said Flemons was acting in self-defense.
Mosher intends to take Flemons to trial again June 26.
Judge Kenneth Lee presided over the trial.
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