A man who admits he killed a Cathedral Catholic High School teacher testified again on Thursday. Jesse Alvarez says he shot and killed Mario Fierro in self-defense.
During Alvarez' second day of testimony, he walked the jury through the day he shot Fierro from his perspective.
Alvarez said everything began on Feb. 1, 2021, when he headed to Fierro’s apartment around 6 a.m.
“I was sitting there just praying and thinking,” Alvarez said of the time he spent in the parking lot waiting for Fierro to leave his home for school. “I started to do a Disney crossword puzzle at the time, waiting for about 40 minutes to 45 minutes I want to say. And then he entered the parking area.”
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Alvarez said when he saw Fierro and tried to introduce himself, Fierro started yelling that he was going to kill Alvarez and then rushed at him. After taking a few punches, Alvarez said he flashed his gun to try to get Fierro to stop and then they started wrestling over the gun. He says Fierro got the gun first and fired the first shot out into the distance before Alvarez regained control and shot Fierro in the arm. Five more shots followed.
During cross examination, prosecutors pushed back against what Alvarez remembered, even dating back to Dec. 21, 2020, when Cathedral Catholic High posted a photo of the newly-engaged Amy Gembara and Fierro. Deputy district attorney Ramona McCarthy said this is what pushed Alvarez over the edge.
“Twelve hours after Catholic Cathedral posted this photo of this happy couple, you started researching how to hire a hitman,” she told Alvarez.
She said Alvarez left his phone at home that morning, and, wearing all black, chose to drive his brother’s car over to Fierro’s apartment even though he wasn’t allowed to.
Alvarez said she was wrong.
“Obviously, like I said, maybe you weren’t paying attention to my statement yesterday,” he responded. “But I said, explicitly, on certain terms, I take it only when I feel unsafe.”
Prosecutors pulled up surveillance audio of the shooting. The courtroom heard seven shots — six of those struck Fierro.
McCarthy and Alvarez were butting heads his entire testimony, but the last time was about the surveillance audio, where the shots landed and in what order.
“The first shot in the back was fatal,” McCarthy said. “Mr. Fierro was already dead. It was just a matter of time, and you kept going.”
“The first shot was in the arm, ma’am,” Alvarez responded. “I was there.”
Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday. If convicted of first-degree murder, Alvarez faces life in prison.
