|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A federal jury on Monday deliberated for a little more than an hour before convicting a 32-year-old California man for a conspiracy to murder an unidentified individual from Mission.
The verdict concludes a four-day trial for Christopher Andrade, the final suspect in the murder-for-hire case that dates back to 2018.
Andrade was charged alongside his mother, 52-year-old Viola Garcia, who was also convicted following a four-day trial in November.
The remaining defendants include Noah Solis, 24, Ronaldo Gallegos, 24 and Diego Morales, who all previously admitted to their guilt after reaching plea deals with federal prosecutors.
In a news release, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Andrade was a Colonia Chiques gang member who was on parole when he was recruited to murder the Mission resident for $20,000.
“Testimony revealed the co-conspirators agreed to travel from California to Texas to commit the murder in exchange for payment,” the news release stated.
On Aug. 30, 2018, they attempted to forcibly enter the victim’s residence.
“The murder attempt was unsuccessful,” the release stated.
They all tried to flee from the scene and Garcia led law enforcement on a high-speed chase until she crashed.
“The jury heard testimony regarding text messages and phone calls that Andrade had made from his phone coordinating the murder attempt,” the release stated. “The jury also heard that in July 2018, the group had attempted to murder the same victim.”
The release said Andrade tried to convince jurors that he was not the user of the phone and was unaware of the murder-for-hire plot.
“The jury did not believe those claims and found him guilty as charged,” the release stated.
All of the co-conspirators are awaiting sentencing.
