Galveston Co. man sentenced to life in prison for strangling pregnant girlfriend
LA MARQUE, Texas (KTRK) -- A Galveston County man will spend the rest of his life in prison for strangling his pregnant girlfriend.
A jury found Asustin Calderone, 31, guilty of capital murder on Friday in the 2015 murder of Stephanie Falcon.
Falcon's body was found face down on the living room floor of her apartment in La Marque by a maintenance worker just days after Christmas on December 28, 2015.
According to prosecutors, Falcon was at least 16 weeks pregnant when Calderone choked her to death. He later confessed to deputies.
Calderone was arrested after a La Marque resident called 911 to report a man had run through her backyard, hid in one of her bushes and then asked her to call police.
Police said Calderone was taken into custody for suspicious behavior, and that is when he confessed to strangling Falcon.
During his trial, Calderone walked back the alleged confession, stating he did not strangle the victim. Instead, he claimed he went home to sleep, only to find Falcon dead when he awoke.
Prosecutors said Calderone is the only person who could have killed the woman, because he confessed to strangling Falcon before an autopsy could be conducted. Her cause of death was not known to investigators until after Calderone's statement.
