DALLAS — Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins' car was still in gear and his foot was on the brake when he was killed, a police investigator testified Tuesday at the murder trial of an inmate accused of leading a deadly prison break last year.

Hawkins' patrol car rolled into a Ford Explorer in the parking lot of Oshman's SuperSports USA, where he was shot during a robbery, Irving police Officer Steven Hazard said during the second day of escapee George Rivas' trial. The Explorer was used as a getaway vehicle after the Christmas Eve robbery, which Hawkins had been dispatched to investigate.

After the shooting, one of the robbers pulled Hawkins out of the car and dragged him about 6 feet, leaving a trail of blood, Hazard said. He was run over by the Explorer and his body lodged against a tire, "acting as a chock," Hazard said.

Rivas, the leader of seven inmates who escaped from Connally Unit in Kenedy and are accused of killing Hawkins, is the first of the surviving six to stand trial. All could face the death penalty if convicted.

Seven prosecution witnesses testified Tuesday, including Dallas County Chief Medical Examiner Jeffrey Barnard.

He used a dummy pierced with yellow wooden rods to show jurors the trajectories of 11 bullets that hit Hawkins. The dummy was dressed in Hawkins' uniform shirt.

It was the first time the public had such a graphic view of the officer's death. As autopsy photographs were projected on a big-screen television, several viewers left the courtroom distraught.

Rivas stared away from the picture showing Hawkins' face after he died. Jurors shifted in their seats.

Most of the gunshots came from the front and from the left of Hawkins, including six to his head.

Hawkins also had a bruise on his chest, likely caused by a bullet fired into his protective vest, and tire marks on his legs. The marks on his legs were lighter than other bruises, indicating that he was dead or dying when he was run over, Barnard said.

Defense attorney Wayne Huff objected to some of the grisly autopsy photos, saying they were inflammatory, but state District Judge Molly Francis allowed them.

Also Tuesday, a Woodland Park, Colo., woman testified that she recognized Rivas, in disguise, after seeing a report about him on TV's "America's Most Wanted." Mary Henry said she had made lunch plans with another one of the escapees, Larry Harper, before she realized who the men were.

"I thought, Oh my God, they're here, I've got to go do something.' But then I thought,I've got to go to lunch,"' she said.

When the meal finally ended, she rushed to report the men she knew only as "Brother Luke"--Rivas--and `Brother Jim"--Harper. She had met Harper at Bible study in Woodland Park, where the escapees hid out at a campground for nearly a month after the Oshman's robbery.

Rivas and five other escapees were captured over the next two days in Woodland Park and Colorado Springs. Harper killed himself rather than surrender.

Rivas later confessed to shooting Hawkins, although his lawyers contend that he only wanted to disarm the officer.

Huff and co-counsel William Johnson said the plan went wrong and that the other escapees opened fire, injuring Rivas.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Johnson questioned other witnesses closely about the timing of the shots. Some said they heard gaps between groups of shots, and some said they were fired all at once.

The timing is important because of Johnson and Huff's contention that Rivas was trying to disarm Hawkins when the rest of the group opened fire.

Record	Events	Title	Source Website	Type	Created
aubrey+hawkins.JPG			Forces War Records	Image	Jun 10, 2015
aubrey-hawkins-1.jpg			Forces War Records	Image	Jun 10, 2015
Texas flag & silver spur.gif			Forces War Records	Image	Aug 15, 2015
Texas.gif			Forces War Records	Image	Aug 15, 2015
Texas 1845.gif			Forces War Records	Image	Aug 15, 2015
Aubrey W Hawkins	Birth, Custom, Death, People	US, Social Security Death Index	Forces War Records	Index Record	Sept 5, 2008

Aubrey W Hawkins

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