EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – El Paso District Attorney Bill D. Hicks hosted a press conference Thursday afternoon, April 11 to announce the verdicts of three capital murder cases that went to trial in March.
Photos by Miguel Paredes – KTSM
“The District Attorney’s Office has successfully prosecuted three capital murders, three separate defendants in capital murders where the sentence was life in prison without the possibility of parole,” Hicks said.
The defendants of said capital murder cases are as follows:
Alexus Dominguez
Dominguez was found guilty of capital murder on Thursday, March 28, for causing the death of Arnulfo Apodaca Gonzalez, 68, which was in the course of trying to kidnap him on August 26, 2019, Hicks said.
Marvin Rex Lake
Lake was found guilty of capital murder Wednesday, April 3, for causing the death of 1-year-old Ahren DeHart in 2021, Hicks said.
He allegedly gripped the baby like a football, wrestled and dropped him on the frame of a futon causing fatal injuries, according to an affidavit.
Eduardo Santillana Garza
Garza was found guilty of capital murder on Thursday, April 4, for causing the death of Miguel Rivera, 63, while trying to burglarize or rob the home that Rivera was in in 2018, Hicks said.
“These capital murder convictions ensure that the defendants will remain in prison for the rest of their lives, and while that does help ensure our community is a safer place, it does not compensate the victims for the pain and the suffering that they’ve gone through,” Hicks said. “It does however send a message. It sends a message to those that would harm and cause danger to those in our community. Our juries will not tolerate this behavior in our community. The police will investigate, the District Attorney’s Office will prosecute, and this district attorney will make sure that you will face justice in our courtrooms.”
Additionally, Hicks recognized the assistant district attorneys and staff who contributed to the successful prosecution of these cases.
Read: Read More