Jury hands down verdict in triple slaying at auto dealership

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A Houston man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole after being convicted of capital murder in the 2015 shooting deaths of three people at a northside car dealership.

James Tinsley IV listened without flinching as state District Judge Brad Hart announced the verdict after jurors deliberated more three hours in a trial that began a week earlier.

Tinsley, 23, was arrested after three men were found dead at their family-owned Immaculate Auto Sales in the 200 block of Little York near Airline on Jan. 8, 2015.

Two brothers, Jesse and Tony Contreras, were dead at the scene with shots to the head.

Casey Contreras, Tony Contreras’ 22-year-old son, was also shot in the head and died the next day.

A mechanic discovered the victims in a pool of blood in the office.

Defense attorney Casey Keirnan said Tinsley was shocked by the decision.

“He’s maintained his innocence since the very beginning,” Keirnan said. “He’s in the holdover cell weeping. He’s crying. He’s stunned.”

Keirnan had argued that Metro records show Tinsley was on a bus, albeit in the area, when the gunman was caught on video.

Prosecutors have said they believe Tinsley was so upset that a car he had bought at the dealership had been repossessed that he killed the men and tried to set the dealership on fire.

brian.rogers@chron.com
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