31-year-old man stands trial for allegedly causing Bellaire police officer's death

Dante Moore decided to put his fate in the hands of a jury. His co-defendant, his twin brother Dominique Moore, pled guilty to tampering with evidence and is currently serving his 8 year sentence.

"Obviously the Bellaire Police Department is a relatively small department, they lost a true brother," said Sean Teare Chief of the Vehicular Crimes Division.

Bellaire motorcycle police officer Marco Zarate crashed into a lawn service trailer and died while chasing Dante Moore on July 12th, 2016.

Prosecutors say Dante and his twin brother Dominique had been stealing from the Target store in Meyerland Plaza. If Dante Moore wouldn't have done what he did that day Teare says officer Zarate would be alive.

"Officer Zarate was responding to a robbery call at the Target because they were using, by what was told to 911, a weapon," Teare said. "He affected a stop, the defendant fled the scene, officer Zarate initiated a pursuit, and at the end of that pursuit he sadly lost control of his vehicle and died."

"He's responsible for fleeing and evading arrest, but not responsible as a direct result of the death," said Moore's attorney Danny Easterling. Easterling says officer Zarate's death is nothing more than a tragic accident.

"We're disputing that my client caused the death. There was a concurrent cause the officer was speeding at a very high rate through a residential area. He hit a big dip in the road, lost control, and crashed into a trailer," Easterling said.

If found guilty of the charge of evading motor vehicle resulting in death, Moore faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.