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A 46-year-old man avoided trial over the fatal stabbing of a former Harlingen High School football player by pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
With a jury picked and ready for testimony, Angel Pizano, who had been charged with murder, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, court records indicate.
The primary suspect in the case, Juan Lozano, 60, was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him in less than two hours in September.
The indictment says that Pizano and 45-year-old Eduardo Aceves collaborated with Lozano in the fatal stabbing of Lesley Maurice Hunter at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2020.
Aceves has pleaded not guilty to murder and engaging in organized criminal activity.
The deadly incident took place at Hunter’s home after the men knocked on his door in the middle of the night.
A news release at the time said police arrived in the 3200 block of North 77 Sunshine Strip and found Hunter on the road bleeding, but conscious. He was in critical condition.
Hunter was able to tell police that a man entered his residence, began an altercation and stabbed him multiple times.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz previously said Lozano had tried to convince his jury that he acted in self defense, which Saenz called absurd.
Lozano, Aceves and Pizano did not know Hunter.
Aceves remains held in the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center and is scheduled for trial in early February.
