Cameron, Tx (FOX44) – A 41-year-old Pflugerville man who was acquitted on murder charges in a 2021 shooting has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The shooting left one man dead and two others wounded.

Israel Ballester II had two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and will have to serve seven and a half years before becoming eligible for parole in the case.

A Milam County jury earlier found Ballester guilty of the assault charges, but not guilty on a murder charge in the case that Milam County District Attorney Bill Torrey said was difficult from the start.

Ballester was tried in April 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 at the time the verdict was issued that he respected the jury’s difficult decision – though it was not the outcome he had hoped for.