Jury acquits man of murder charge in deadly robbery

<p>Throughout his trial, Treizy Lopez has maintained that he took part in an armed robbery but not in the slaying of a popular store owner who died as a result -- and jurors agreed Thursday.</p>

News 12 Staff

May 31, 2018, 3:02 PM

Updated 2,148 days ago

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Throughout his trial, Treizy Lopez has maintained that he took part in an armed robbery but not in the slaying of a popular store owner who died as a result -- and jurors agreed Thursday.
They found Lopez not guilty of murder and guilty on two counts of robbery.
As News 12 has reported, Lopez and Leighton Vanderberg were accused of killing Jose Salgado while robbing his Bridgeport grocery store three years ago. Salgado's wife testified that Vanderberg pulled the trigger. He has pleaded guilty and is serving a 40-year prison sentence. But state law says a robbery accomplice can still be guilty of a murder charge, even if they didn't commit the killing.
The verdict came on the jury's third day of deliberations. Jurors had told the court they could not reach an agreement, but a day after the judge urged them to continue deliberations, they made their decision.
"We didn't want to make a quick decision," said David Grillo, one of the jurors. "So we poured over it, researched it, asked for clarifications, and then made the decision based upon the facts and our interpretation of the law."
Lopez still faces up to 45 years in prison on the two robbery charges at his July 13 sentencing.


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