Murder Trial Could Begin Dec. 11

Anthony J. Frausto is charged in the death of Luis Bautista
San Martin – The trial of a 19-year-old Morgan Hill man charged with shooting and killing Luis Bautista, 19, of Gilroy, was continued until Dec. 11 at 8:30am.

Anthony J. Frausto, who was 18 at the time of the murder, was arrested Oct. 2, 2005, and has been held without bail since that day. The shooting took place Sept. 30, 2005.

Bautista died after being shot four times behind the Safeway grocery store in the Tennant Station shopping center in Morgan Hill about 8pm. Witnesses described seeing Bautista running from four or five males in their late teens or early 20s. 

The suspects fled the scene, according to witnesses, in a black Camaro and a white Volkswagen Jetta or Ford sedan. Someone at the scene then took Bautista, who was shot in the arm, chest, abdomen and thigh, to the Regional Medical Center of San Jose. 

Bautista died at 11:40pm that night.

Morgan Hill Police conducted an extensive search of the area and interviewed witnesses. 

Frausto told police when he showed up at the police station the next day that he came “to clear his name” after hearing police were attempting to contact him. He was arrested in the early morning hours of Oct. 2. 

Police have said the killing was likely gang related, as Bautista, who had moved to Gilroy from Mexico less than a year before the shooting, was a Sureño and Frausto is a Norteño.