A San Antonio man will spend nearly 39 years in prison. He was found guilty of a murder from more than two years ago.
A Bexar County jury found Cristan Valentine Villalobos, 30, guilty of murder. He got 38 years and six months. The Bexar County District Attorney's office shared the news on Monday. The man he was found guilty of killing was Robert Wellington.
Villalobos is the second man sent to prison in the case. The first was Bobby Mercado Jr. He is 30 too. A jury found Mercado guilty in April. A judge gave him life in prison in May.
So both men charged in this death are now locked up. It took more than two years to get there. The family sat through two trials.
Police found Wellington shot to death in February 2024. It happened on West Ridgewood Court. That street is near Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill is an old part of town just north of downtown.
The DA's office said the two men drove off in a dark blue BMW.
Police caught Mercado a short time later. He was at a bus stop close to the scene. Police said he had drugs on him.
A talk with Mercado led police to Villalobos. That is what the DA's office said. Police arrested both men in February 2024. Each one was charged in the death.
Prosecutors did not rest on one clue. The DA's office said they used a stack of proof. It was built on what people saw. It was built on video from cameras. It was built on lab tests. It was built on data from phones.
In Mercado's case, the lab tests went deep. They took in DNA. They took in gun smoke on skin, which cops call gunshot residue. They took in a test that matches bullets and shells back to one gun.
Mercado got the harder sentence by far. State District Judge Benjamin Robertson gave him life in prison. Mercado got a second life term too. That one was for having a gun as a felon.
Both terms got bumped up. Mercado had a stack of past felony cases. Texas law calls that a habitual offender. It is a label for a person with a long list of past felony cases. It lets the state ask for a much longer term.
Mercado is not done fighting. His lawyers asked to appeal the sentence. They filed the papers days after the judge ruled.
Joe Gonzales is the Bexar County District Attorney. He put out a written statement.
"While nothing can undo the loss of a loved one, we hope this sentence provides Robert's family with a sense of peace and closure," Gonzales said.
He said the jury's verdict showed the work of the police and the prosecutors on the case.
One big question is still open. No one has said why Wellington was shot. Cops have not given a reason in either case. The DA's office has not spelled one out.
The two sentences look far apart on paper. Mercado drew life. Villalobos drew 38 years and six months. In Texas a murder charge can bring five to 99 years. It can also bring life. A jury or a judge picks the number. They look at the proof. They look at the past record.
Villalobos now starts his term. He was 30 when the judge ruled. If he serves it all he would be near 70 at the end.
For Wellington's family, the court part is nearly done. Two juries heard the case. Two men are in prison. What is left is the appeal. And the one thing no one has answered yet.
