Texas Mom Vanished in 2018 — and Estranged Husband Pleads Guilty to Murder, Leads Officers to Body

Joey Sanchez received a 50-year prison sentence for the murder of Jennifer Marie Sanchez on Monday. “It was not what my family wanted,” her aunt tells PEOPLE

A Texas man pleaded guilty to murdering his estranged wife who vanished in 2018, and led authorities to her remains as part of his plea agreement, according to multiple reports.

Joey Sanchez received a 50-year prison sentence on Monday after killing his wife, Jennifer Marie Sanchez, ABC 13 reported.

As a condition of his plea agreement, Joey revealed the location of Jennifer Sanchez’s body to authorities, according to KHOU 11.

Jennifer’s aunt, Yvonne Franco Weimann, tells PEOPLE the outcome was “not what my family wanted.”

“We were hoping for life without parole. From our understanding, he’s eligible for parole after 22 years,” Weimann says. “It was just so disappointing the way the prosecutor’s office handled everything. It made the family feel that, after five years, they were just trying to get this case over with and get it off their desk.”

“We’re happy that he’s stopped, because now he can’t hurt or kill any other women like he’s done to my niece,” she tells PEOPLE, describing Jennifer as “a beautiful young woman.”

Related: Third Man Sentenced in Michael K. Williams’ Accidental Overdose, Gets 5 Years for Involvement 

“She was excited and happy because two of her sons, their wives, were expecting little girls,” she says, adding, “she was always supportive of her family.”

"It was a life taken too soon" she adds.

Joey was charged with her murder on Sept. 14 2018. At that point, Jennifer, then 39, had been missing for 18 days.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

“There were times she wouldn’t come around to the family functions," Wiemann told PEOPLE at the time, saying she believe Jennifer "was hiding her bruises or whatever abuse that he had done to her.”

Related: Iowa Man Sentenced to 2 Life Terms for Killing Missing Girl, 10, Whose Remains Were Found in Pond

The last sighting of Joey and Jennifer together was on a security camera leaving a bar in the early hours of Sept. 7, 2018. Jennifer had called her son at 1 a.m. and said she would be back soon, but did not mention that she was going to meet Joey, a police spokesperson previously told PEOPLE.

After seeing the video, police took Joey into custody on Sept. 13 for violating the restraining order Jennifer had filed against him. Joey was due in court for a domestic violence charge from Jennifer, which he was attempting to convince her to withdraw, according to what family members told the police.

Joey faced at least two charges of domestic violence against Jennifer since June 2017, police spokeswoman Jodi Silva told PEOPLE at the time. He allegedly attacked Jennifer at a bar in November and was due in court on Sept. 20 for that case shortly before Jennifer disappeared.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Joey was convicted of aggravated sex assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in June 1996 and ordered to register as a sex offender.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.