MISSION, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A third man was sentenced for his role in a 2017 murder case near Mission.
Hector Ruben Guerra was sentenced to 40 years in state jail after pleading guilty to a charge of murder, according to Hidalgo County Jail records.
Guerra was sentenced in connection to the murder of 32-year-old Jose Angel Martinez.
On Nov. 8, 2017, deputies with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office responded to suspicious activity on Mon Mack Road. A man told deputies when he arrived to check on a man, identified as Ricardo Moreno, he saw “blood all over the house,” according to previous ValleyCentral reports.
While searching the residences, deputies found evidence of a violent assault and began looking for Moreno and Martinez, who were the occupants of the home. Surveillance footage showed a “white SUV dragging a male subject down the roadway,” and witnesses reported hearing gunshots from the residence.
Previous reports stated that Martinez’s body was found buried and dismembered at a ranch outside Mission.
Guerra, along with Benjamin Chavez Sanchez, Gabino Salinas and Sandy Lutz were arrested on charges of aggravated kidnapping and capital murder, jail records show.
Salinas was sentenced in April 2022 to life in state jail and Sanchez was sentenced in January to 30 years in state jail. Records show that Lutz has a status hearing scheduled for March 20.
As part of a plea agreement, Guerra pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder and the two remaining counts of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon were dismissed.
He was given a jail credit of just over five years.
