Arochi Trial: September 19

The trial of the man accused in the disappearance of an alum progresses at the Collin County courthouse. Photo by Cara Santucci | Managing Editor.

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Plano detective Robyn Busby said she believes in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, 2014, Enrique Arochi made Christina Morris fight for her life.

“It would be (terrifying) for me,” she said.

Busby, the lead detective in the case of Morris, who went missing in 2014, gave the testimony during day eight of the trial of Arochi, the man accused of kidnapping Morris.

Busby testified about her theory that sometime between 3:58 a.m. and 5:07 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2014, Arochi kidnapped Morris after she willingly got into his car at the Shops at Legacy in Plano.

After the defense finished questioning Busby and the prosecution rested, Arochi’s lawyers called for a directed verdict from the judge, claiming the state didn’t prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

While he overruled the objection to other parts of the accusations, Judge Mark Rusch focused on the second aspect of the indictment, which stated that Arochi intended to sexually harm Morris.

The prosecution had based their evidence for this on testimony and evidence from the night Morris disappeared, where witnesses said Arochi interacted with another woman in the group of friends and left frustrated.

Rusch ultimately overruled the motion.

Morris’ mother Jonni McElroy also testified, becoming emotional upon describing her search for Morris.

The defense also began to lay out their case, bringing forward their first witnesses including a forensic dentist and the evidence supervisor for the Plano police department to go over details of the case.

Rusch said jury deliberations may start as early as tomorrow. He instructed the jury to make preparations to be sequestered before they left for the day.

Follow @arochimercury on Twitter for more updates on the trial from the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney.

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