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Mistrial declared in the Ausencio Acosta capital murder trial

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A mistrial has been declared in the capital murder trial of Ausencio Acosta.

Defense attorney Lisa Greenberg has confirmed that the capital murder case that began Monday ended in a mistrial. She declined to say why.

Repeated efforts to contact employees with the Nueces County District Attorney's Office went unanswered.

Acosta is one of six men charged in a home invasion in the London Estates subdivision in April 2018 that left Arturo and Miriam Lopez dead. They were shot during an alleged attempted robbery on Balchuck Lane.

Arturo and Miriam Lopez were killed in their home on Balchuck Lane on April 2, 2018.

Prosecutors said Acosta and five other defendants targeted the Lopezes because they were drug dealers, and the suspects believed they would find a large quantity of drugs and money in their home.

In opening statements, the prosecutor said Acosta, who was Arturo Lopez's cousin, gave the go-ahead for the home invasion.

The defense argues Acosta did not organize the crime and wasn't even at the scene.

They said drug cartels ordered the hit because Arturo Lopez had cheated them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and drugs.