Eduardo Gonzalez Cruz, who was convicted of killing his common-law wife, is embraced by his 16-year-old daughter during a sentencing hearing, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg.
EDINBURG — A state district judge sentenced a 34-year-old Peñitas man to a half-century in prison for murdering his common-law wife in 2017 following a domestic dispute.
State District Judge Fernando Mancias handed down the ruling following a morning of emotional testimony from family members.
A jury convicted Eduardo Gonzalez Cruz on Tuesday of bludgeoning to death his 30-year-old wife, Adaly Tellez Johnson, with a cement block.
The jury found him guilty of murder following about 7.5 hours of deliberation.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office initially named Gonzalez a person of interest after Johnson’s body was found in her rural Peñitas home about 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2017.
Investigators noted obvious signs of foul play, witnesses implicated Gonzalez and he later implicated himself, according to a news release.
“Blood evidence of an assault was found at the rear of the residence as well as a cement block with blood stains on it, believed to be the murder weapon,” the release stated.
