Andres ‘Andy’ Avalos Jr. still facing charge for attempted murder before heading to prison for 3 life terms

Sentenced to three life prison terms for murdering his wife, neighbor and a local pastor, Andres “Andy” Avalos Jr. is still facing an attempted murder charge in the stabbing of a fellow inmate at the Manatee County jail.

Avalos, 36, was found guilty on Saturday of two counts of first-degree murder in fatal shootings of his neighbor, Denise Potter, 46; and the Rev. James “Tripp” Battle. The jury also found him guilty of second-degree murder after he beat, chocked, hung and shot his wife, Amber Avalos, 33.

The same jury did not agree on Monday on imposing the death penalty on Avalos for the murders of Potter and Battle, so he instead received two automatic life sentences. On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Diana Moreland sentenced him to a third life sentence for his wife’s murder and ordered that all three of his life sentences be served consecutively.

But Avalos won’t be taken to prison yet — he is still set to stand trial for the attempted murder of a fellow inmate at the Manatee County jail.

He is set to stand trial for the attempted murder charge during the two-week trial period that begins July 31.

As he did in his murder trial, Avalos intends to rely on an insanity defense, according to court records. Similarly, his defense attorney claims that Avalos suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, delusional disorder, mild neurocognitive disorder, an abnormal brain and reduced cognitive, emotional and personality controls because of abnormal brain functioning.

On Dec. 7, 2015 — just days after the one-year anniversary of the three murders for which he was in jail — Avalos allegedly got tired of Jesse “Green Eyes” Cruz bringing up things from the past, he told a deputy. The two had known one another 20 years before when they were both in the same gang.

Avalos tried to kill Cruz that afternoon by stabbing him in the head, face and neck with two sharpened toothbrushes in the day room area of the pod where both men were being housed. The attack was captured by security cameras at the jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office used Avalos’ own recorded telephone calls from the jail to build the case against him for the attempted murder charge.

“He was trying me,” Avalos told a man the day after incident, according to the report. “I was not going to let him get his re-sentencing, so I had some shanks and stabbed that (expletive) in his neck ... I tried to kill him. ... Green Eyes was begging for his life. ... I don’t care if they’re listening. ... They gonna put me on death row. ... Another inmate saved him. ... God did not allow me to kill him. ... You tell everyone about this.”

More details were revealed in a second call, 25 minutes later.

“I stabbed your friend’s boyfriend in the neck,” Avalos reportedly told a woman.

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Andres ‘Andy’ Avalos Jr. still facing charge for attempted murder before heading to prison for 3 life terms."