Abilene man sentenced to life in prison on birthday for murder

SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — An Abilene man accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to life in prison during the afternoon of Tuesday, Dec. 17, following days of trial proceedings.

Francisco Morales, 21, pled guilty to murdering Jacob Hernandez at the Nueva Vista Apartments in San Angelo on the morning of May 26, 2021. Morales, who was indicted in September 2021 on one charge of capital murder by terroristic threat or other felony, maintained that he was not guilty of committing capital murder.

In exchange for Morales’ guilty plea, 340th Judicial District Court Judge Jay Weatherby sentenced him to life in prison in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and ordered $18,177.33 in restitution be paid. As part of the agreement, Morales waived his right to appeal the decision and agreed that he must wait 30 years before he is eligible for parole.

Under Texas criminal law, the prosecution could not seek the death penalty or life without parole as possible punishment due to Morales being 17 at the time of the murder.

The plea agreement comes after trial proceedings for The State of Texas v. Francisco Morales began with jury selection on Friday, Dec. 13. Witnesses began to testify on Monday, Dec. 16.

Eric Aguillon and Amethyst Deanda, two co-defendants of Morales facing charges of capital murder, have jury trials scheduled to begin in January 2025, as per Tom Green County records. Co-defendant David Rodriguez pled guilty to murder in exchange for life imprisonment on July 1, while co-defendant Mykah Saldivar was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on Sept. 13 in exchange for pleading guilty to murder.

According to court records filed within Tom Green County, Morales’ birthday is Dec. 17, 2003.

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