Jonathan Vera pleaded guilty to one charge of murder for his role in the fatal shooting of 55-year-old Silvano Cortez.
"Innocent families should not have to live in terror that violent men will burst into their homes with guns demanding money and valuables," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "These men knew exactly what they were doing, and spending decades in prison is the consequence for those actions."
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Vera was a juvenile when he committed the crime, therefore he was not eligible for the death penalty or life without parole.
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Vera and another man are accused of breaking into a Greenspoint-area home where Cortez and his wife were sleeping on Oct. 19, 2017.
When Cortez got up, the two men demanded money, the DA's office said.
A tenant living in a small apartment in the backyard of Cortez's home heard the commotion and came out to help, pistol in hand.
A struggle broke out, and Vera told the man he was with to shoot Cortez, according to the DA's office.
After shots were fired, Vera and the other man fled. Meanwhile, the apartment tenant fired his pistol at them as they ran, striking Vera in the right cheek.
The DA's office said about 45 minutes after the deadly shooting, the same SUV the men fled in dropped Vera off at an emergency room because of the gunshot wound to his face.
Vera was later arrested and charged with capital murder after he left the hospital and fled.
This is not the only death Vera has been tied to.
Vera was accused of hitting and killing a 23-year-old Texas Southern University student in a rollover crash while out on bond for the murder charge.
He was initially charged with manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid, but last month, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges. A judge granted the motion.
"No probable cause exists at this time to believe the defendant committed the offense," the motion to dismiss records stated.
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Houston police said that on Jan. 25, 2022, Vera ran a red light on the North Freeway feeder road at Greens Road and collided with 23-year-old Summer Chester.
The impact was so hard, Chester's car ended up on a sidewalk and on its side. Vera and his passengers ran off, witnesses told police. Chester died at the scene.
Later that night, Vera was under arrest and charged.
The shooter in Cortez's death and possibly a third person who may have been driving the getaway car have yet to be identified. Anyone with information on their identities is urged to contact Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.