Houston man sentenced to 30 years in prison for 2018 stabbing and 2017 deadly shooting of roommate

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A man charged in the brutal stabbing of one man and the deadly shooting of a roommate a year earlier has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, the Harris County District Attorney's Office announced.

Josue Celis-Maltes, 43, pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial and was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday. Since he took the plea deal, Celis-Maltes cannot appeal the murder conviction or the sentence.

According to District Attorney Kim Ogg's office, Celis-Maltes was arrested after rushing into a friend's apartment in southwest Houston and stabbing an acquaintance twice in the chest on May 5, 2018. The man survived.

After he was arrested for the stabbing, police realized Celis-Maltes was wanted for murder in the deadly shooting of his roommate, 24-year-old Jaime Castillo-Vasquez, a year earlier on May 28, 2017.

In that case, police said Celis-Maltes was drinking beer in an apartment when he made a call and told someone to bring him his gun. Police said 15 minutes later, three of his adult nephews arrived and handed Celis-Maltes a silver pistol.

That's when Celis-Maltes took the gun, walked over to his 34-year-old roommate, and shot him in the face, investigators said. Castillo-Vasquez heard the shot and came out of his bedroom, and that's when Celis-Maltes killed him, police said.

In addition to being charged with murder, Celis-Maltes was charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury for shooting the other roommate in the face. That roommate survived.

"Celis-Maltes got drunk and angry and started shooting his roommates, so thank God one of them lived and was able to pick him out," Assistant District Attorney Bryan Honeycutt said. "He is dangerous and violent, and the guarantee that he will be locked up for 30 years is a good thing for Harris County."