Man pleads guilty to murder

Excerpt

The jury, judge and attorneys were ready to start the murder trial of Nyenla Fatai Terrell, 37, Tuesday morning when he decided to plead guilty to the 2010 stabbing death of a 43-year-old Amarillo ma…

The jury, judge and attorneys were ready to start the murder trial of Nyenla Fatai Terrell, 37, Tuesday morning when he decided to plead guilty to the 2010 stabbing death of a 43-year-old Amarillo man.

Terrell, who was sentenced to 40 years in state prison, surprised the jury and his attorney, Mike Warner, with his decision to avoid a trial.

Warner did not return a request for comment.

A Potter County grand jury indicted Terrell in October for the murder of Robert Rodriguez.

Authorities found Rodriguez in an alley at 1412 W. 10th Ave. on April 20, 2010, with at least one stab wound in his chest, which pierced his heart, an autopsy report showed. He was taken to Northwest Texas Hospital where he died an hour and half later.

- Staff writer Bobby Cervantes