Jury selection begins in 'El Gallito' murder case

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The murder trial of a well-known Harlingen attorney who first went missing in 2017 is set to begin this week as jury selection began Monday.

Solomon Campos Jr. is on trial for the murder of his uncle Ernesto Gonzalez, often referred to as “El Gallito.”

Gonzalez went missing in 2017 after filing a protective order against several of his family members for fear of his life.

He was found three years later in 2020 on a goat farm property in La Feria. The property belongs to Campos and was part of a search warrant obtained by Harlingen police in 2018 and again in 2020.

In June 2024, Campos’ defense claimed the search warrant that led to the discovery of Gonzalez’ remains was unlawful and included false statements in the affidavits.

A pool of one hundred jurors were screened Monday and a jury is expected to be seated by the end of the day.

The trial will pick up at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

In June, ValleyCentral obtained copies of the search warrants that more closely detail El Gallito’s murder case.

To read about what authorities found while executing the search warrant, check out our previous article.