Click to watch video

His hands were cuffed behind his back much in the same way they were the day he allegedly shot and killed officer Rodney Johnson from the back of a squad car.

That can bring a charge of capital murder.

Juan Leonardo Quintero, 32, appeared before Judge Joan Campbell for a probable cause hearing.

Although he hasn’t tried a case himself in years, Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal says he will handle this one personally.

“The defendant produced a 9mm handgun,” he said.

Why shoot an officer and basically just wait for others to come arrest him is bizarre.

The gun used to kill Officer Johnson, belonged to Quintero’s wife, a security guard, who says she always kept it at home under lock and key.

Swarmed by television cameras outside the courtroom, she broke down when asked about the slain officer’s family.

“You’ve got to feel for the officer’s family.  Oh, God, yes I do,” she said.

“She feels remorse for the family, OK?  She can’t control what he did,” said her son.

In stark contrast to the wild-eyed suspect we first saw taken into custody, Quintero seemed collected, respectful and even sincere, when we sat down with him in the San Jacinto jail.

Although police say he’s confessed, he told 11 News, “Right when they picked me up, I said something to them.  That’s it.  What I remember about the accident.” 

And while he wouldn’t comment on his guilt or innocence, he does concede he was carrying a handgun the day he was stopped. 

“There’s been a lot of robberies,” he said, “It was to protect my family.”

As for Officer Johnson’s family, he had this to say, “There’s nothing I can do or nothing I can say to change what happened, but I’m so sorry for what happened.”

Quintero said he’s also been thinking of his own family. 

HPD

Juan Leonardo Quintero

Although he’s been placed on a suicide watch, he says he’s of no danger to himself. 

The DAs office has yet to decide whether it will pursue the death penalty.