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The brother of the 37-year-old Mercedes man who was sentenced to 85 years in prison for stabbing and killing a 16-year-old teen in 2020 pleaded guilty to murder Monday morning and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Juan Jose Cosme, 40, pleaded guilty to stabbing and killing Armando Torres IV with his brother, Fidencio Castillo Cosme, who was convicted following a jury trial in July 2021.
Details from Fidencio’s five-day trial revealed that Fidencio believed Torres and other neighborhood kids were surveying his mom’s house for a future robbery, although there wasn’t any evidence pointing to that assumption.
Torres’ best friend testified in the trial recalling a night where the duo hid from police in an alleyway around 1 a.m. due to the then pandemic curfew for minors and were confronted by the Cosme brothers.
In that instance, Juan held a machete and both he and Fidencio chased the teens away from the residence.
Around 1 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2020, Fidencio saw Torres walking outside with his headphones on when he decided to take drastic measures.
The brothers attacked Torres from behind. Juan placed Torres in a headlock while Fidencio slashed the teen about a dozen times before stabbing him, causing a 4-inch deep wound to his chest, puncturing his sternum.
Testimony showed that an area of Torres’ lung that was attached to his heart had been cut.
The teen had been walking to his best friend’s house that fateful afternoon.
Fidencio’s defense attorneys attempted to paint Torres as a juvenile delinquent who may have been responsible for a wave of burglaries in the neighborhood.
They also attacked the Mercedes Police Department’s investigation as not being thorough enough and full of missteps.
However, the evidence proved otherwise, specifically a video shown to the jury before they broke for deliberations.
During the trial, the jury saw an interview Fidencio had with Mercedes police where he told them what he had done when he saw Torres walking by their home.
“I go back to my room. I grab something and go f—- stab him,” Fidencio said.
The jury returned after an hour of deliberation and found Fidencio guilty of murder. He was subsequently sentenced to 85 years in prison.
