Cameron, Tx (FOX44) – A Milam County jury has found a Pflugerville man guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – but not guilty on a murder charge in a case that Milam County District Attorney Bill Torrey said was difficult from the start.

41-year-old Israel Ballester, II was on trial in connection with the May 8, 2021 shooting of three men during a disturbance off Milam County Road 326, near Rockdale. Two of the men survived, but one – identified as Dalton Shaw, of Buda – died. It was noted at the time that none of the men involved were full time residents of Milam County.

Investigators at the time said a dispute was going on between the men for some time. The dispute had to do with a fence line and a bull.

Torrey said what made the case complicated was the fact that a second firearm belonging to one of the victims was recovered at the scene. Torrey said he believed the firearm was not pulled out by the victim based on the evidence – but the jury apparently felt there was at least some reasonable doubt about that fact.

Torrey said he respects the jury’s difficult decision in the case – and while it was not the verdict he had hoped for, it underscores the importance of his office working to prosecute cases to the fullest extent of the law.

Ballester will be held in the Milam County Jail pending a sentencing hearing in May.