Man sentenced to 80 years in prison for 2018 murder of Amarillo woman

Excerpt

A man will spend 80 years in prison after a jury convicted him for the 2018 murder of an Amarillo woman.

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A man will spend 80 years in prison after a jury convicted him for the 2018 murder of an Amarillo woman.

According to the 47th District Attorney’s Office, after a three-day trial, a jury convicted Ricardo Huerta for the murder of Latrece Latele Black.

In July of 2018, the body of Black was found in an alley near 10th and Arthur. Amarillo police later ruled the suspicious death as a homicide and issued a murder warrant for Ricardo Huerta.

In 2020, he was deported from Mexico and arrested for his murder warrant in Potter County.

According to the 47th District Attorney’s Office, the jury deliberated for 12 minutes before returning with a sentence recommendation of 80 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Copyright 2022 KFDA. All rights reserved.

From 47th District Attorney's Office

On March 2, 2022, after a 3 day trial, a jury convicted RICARDO HUERTA for the murder of Latrece Latele Black which occurred July 11, 2018. The trial took place in the 108th District Court with the Honorable Judge Douglas Woodburn presiding.

In July of 2018, Ricardo Huerta met Latrece Latele Black at his house, where he strangled her to death then dragged her body from his bedroom out a backdoor into a backyard area leaving drag marks in the dirt. Huerta loaded the body in the back of Black’s car then subsequently dumped her body in the alley behind Fiesta Foods.

Later, Huerta was stopped in Canyon for defective taillights. The vehicle was searched and during the search a purse belonging to Black was observed in the floorboard containing Black’s identification, credit cards and many other identifying information. Huerta had an address on maps in his phone headed for Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico.

He was subsequently let go after being issued a citation for no driver’s license. He then fled to Mexico. An address and phone number was obtained from Huerta and also for Black. This information led to Huerta’s residence which tied several pieces of evidence to the murder.

Huerta was arrested on a murder warrant at the border in El Paso in an attempt to return to Texas.

The defendant had two prior convictions for Indecency with a Child and Harassment of Public Servant. After about twelve minutes of deliberations, the jury returned with a sentence of 80 years confinement for Ricardo Huerta to be served in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.