Jury trials for two men in separate murder cases are being reset.
Ector County District Attorney Dusty Gallivan said a lack of jurors has caused the trials for Joel Luna and Fabian Chavez Polvon to be rescheduled. Both trials were originally scheduled to take place Monday.
Joel Luna, 37, is charged with capital murder of an individual under 10, a capital felony, while Fabian Chavez Polvon, 37, is charged with two counts of murder, a first-degree felony.
“We have some jurors coming in that we salvaged from this week, but we don’t have enough to have two capital murder trials,” Gallivan said.
Luna is also being charged with aggravated assault to date, family or household member causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony. Court records show that Luna is scheduled for jury trial at 9 a.m. Nov. 15 in the 70th District Courtroom of Judge Denn Whalen.
Polvon’s jury trial for capital murder of multiple persons, a capital felony, which is scheduled for jury trial at 9 a.m. Oct. 4 in the 161st District Courtroom, court records detail.
Court records show that Luna’s court-appointed lawyers for the capital murder charge are Jason Leach and Chris Fostel. Leach is also reportedly serving as Luna’s lead counsel for the aggravated assault charged.
Luna has two bonds totaling $1.1 million and was still in custody as of Thursday afternoon, jail records detail. Luna was booked on two charges on June 19, 2018.
Court records detail that Polvon’s attorneys for the two murder charges and the capital murder charge are Joe Spencer Jr. and Felix Valenzuela. Polvon has one bond totaling $1 million and was still in custody of Thursday afternoon, jail records show. He was booked into the Ector County Law Enforcement Center on Nov. 29, 2019.
According to a previous Odessa American article, police were first called to Medical Center Hospital on May 1 (2018) in reference to an assault victim, an Odessa Police Department news release stated.
Investigation reportedly showed that Luna had gotten into an argument with his 33-year-old wife, before he reportedly began choking her, causing her to lose consciousness.
The OPD press release detailed that Luna then kneeled on her abdomen and repeatedly applied force while stating he wanted to kill her baby.
Luna’s wife reportedly sought medical treatment and was told by medical personnel that she was five weeks pregnant and had lost the child she was carrying, the release stated. Investigation showed she sustained a traumatic miscarriage due to the injuries inflicted by Luna.
Polvon is accused of shooting two people to death including his wife.
The probable cause affidavit detailed a witness saw a white Ford F-350 pickup collide with a black Cadillac Escalade on Nov. 26, 2019, that was parked on the north side of the Apex Car Wash parking lot located at 2357 E. Eighth St.
After the pickup collided with the Escalade, the witness said the suspect, later identified as Polvon, exited the pickup and walked to the Escalade and used a handgun to shoot 36-year-old Joseph Granado multiple times as he was exiting the passenger side of the Escalade.
Video surveillance showed after Polvon shot Granado that he walked to the driver’s side and shot his wife, 35-year-old Tiffany Nicole Polvon, through the door, which struck her several times. Fabian Polvon pulled his wife from the car and onto the ground and then left the scene, the affidavit stated.
Officers reportedly contacted Tiffany Polvon’s cousin, identified as Linda Hinojos, and she stated that her cousin told her that she was going to go see Granado to give him a gift that she had made for him.
Hinojos stated that Tiffany Polvon had filed for divorce from her husband and since then Fabian Polvon had been threatening to kill her if she was found talking with other men, the affidavit stated. Hinojos stated that Polvon knew his wife was in a relationship with Granado and knew where he lived and worked.
Hinojos reportedly told officers that Polvon knew where his wife was when he shouldn’t have known and believed he was tracking her vehicle or phone.
On Nov. 27, 2019, Polvon’s father, identified as Valente Palvon Rodriguez, contacted OPD and stated that his son had contacted him and wanted to turn himself in, the affidavit stated. Rodriguez also stated that he had confessed to him that he shot his wife and Granado.
