2015-11-18
Woman sentenced to 14 years in brother's murder
An Amarillo woman was sentenced to 14 years in prison for her part in the 2013 murder of her brother.
Janett De La Paz, 22, pled guilty to first-degree murder Nov. 18 as part of a plea deal. She was accused of being party to the murder of 24-year-old Alfredo Ruben Cueto.
De La Paz was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband, Humberto De La Paz Hernandez, 30, who used a handgun to shoot and kill Cueto in a parking lot at 4418 E. Amarillo Blvd. in July 2013.
De La Paz married Hernandez in 2010, Texas marriage records show.
According to a search warrant affidavit, witnesses told police that the driver of a red Nissan single-cab pickup, later determined to be Hernandez, stuck his arm out of the window and shot Cueto numerous times.
Witness statements and surveillance video footage revealed several unique characteristics of the pickup, including a broken black bug deflector on the front of the hood and a seven digit license plate.
Police used the information to narrow the search to a 1993 Nissan pickup registered to De La Paz and Hernandez, who lived in the 1000 block of North Woodland Street.
During the course of the investigation, authorities learned that Hernandez complained of Cueto causing disturbances at the home on a number of occasions.
On at least one of those occasions, court records show, Cueto and Hernandez got into a physical fight because Cueto was allegedly attempting to burglarize the residence.
"They were pretty sure Cueto had burglarized their house twice," 47th District Attorney Randall Sims said. "He was taking advantage of his family and stealing from them, and (Hernandez) had enough."
Authorities later served a search warrant at the home and discovered the Nissan in a detached garage. Sims said the pickup was a key piece of evidence in the case.
Hernandez was sentenced in April to 30 years in prison after he pled guilty to murder as part of a plea deal.