The shooting deaths of two brothers on June 10, 2023, in Longview were preceded by other conflicts that day.

Aleksei Gamez and his brother, Alexander Gamez were shot  in the backyard of a house on Harrison Street, which is near a house on Park Street where a related incident had occurred earlier in the night, according to testimony presented Wednesday in Gregg County’s 188th District Court.

Aleksei Gamez, who was known as “Diablo,” died at the scene. His brother, whose nickname was “Evil,” died later at a hospital. He had been shot in the head.

The earlier incident the night of the shooting was not reported to police, according to court testimony, with at least one witness saying it was because he was afraid.

Jose Daniel Rodriguez, 27,  is charged with capital murder of multiple people in the brothers’ deaths.

One of the people who testified Wednesday was Erick Milam, who lived at the Park Street house at the time with a woman he was in a relationship with. Milam testified in a black and white jail uniform. He is serving five years in prison on charges of continuous violence against the family.

He recalled that earlier in the evening, the two brothers and a friend of theirs had come to the Park Street house and were waving around guns while there were children present.

“They were talking about somebody was trying to break into their house or something,” Milam said. “I really feel like they were, due to the drugs, you know they were… maybe hallucinating, something like that.”

In additional testimony Wednesday, witnesses disagreed about who had guns and who discharged guns that night the Gamez brothers were killed.

Visiting Judge David Brabham also had someone escorted out of the courthouse and ordered not to come back during the trial on Wednesday.

The judge had previously told spectators in the courtroom not to take photos or videos of jurors when they were leaving or entering the courtroom during breaks. The judge and others reviewed surveillance footage from the hallway outside the courtroom during a break.

When the break ended, the judge motioned to someone in a “purple shirt.” He warned spectators that everything is caught on camera.

“Juries have to be protected,” he said.

Closing arguments are set to be presented Thursday morning.