Co-defendant gets 50 years for role in elderly Slaton man's killing
Less than a week after entering an open plea of guilty to his role in a 2019 robbery and murder of a 79-year-old Slaton man, Brett Garza accepted an offer from prosecutors and was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison.
Garza appeared before District Judge John McClendon on Monday, May 6, and pleaded guilty to murder in the Aug. 3, 2019 slaying of Celestino Rodriguez.
At the time, Garza pleaded guilty without a deal from prosecutors and was set for a May 13 sentencing bench trial before McClendon, who would determine his punishment, which ranged from five years to life in prison.
However, a few days after entering his plea, Garza's attorneys reached out to prosecutors saying he was accepting the 50-year plea deal, which was still on the table.
Pain and remorse
After his sentence was imposed in court, Garza turned to Rodriguez's family who were sitting in the gallery and apologized.
"I just want to say I'm sorry for my actions," he said.
He said he hoped his cooperation in the case helped bring them closure.
Patricia Rodriguez Perez, Celestino Rodriguez's daughter, read a victim impact statement on behalf of her family.
She said her father's absence was a daily reminder of the "cruelty and injustice that exists in the world."
The pain of knowing their father was killed over something as trivial as a government check was a burden they will bear as long as they live.
"The loss of my father has shattered our family's sense of security and stability," she said. "We live wit the constant fear and anxiety that such a heinous crime could happen to anyone at any time."
She said Garza's actions robbed her family of sharing memorable moments with her father.
"He will not be there to witness graduations, weddings, holidays or the birth of his great-grandchildren," she said. "The pain of his absence is a constant reminder of the precious moments stolen from us."
A criminal plot, killing and cover up
Garza, who has been held at the Lubbock County detention center since his Aug. 15, 2019 arrest, was one of seven people charged for their roles in Rodriguez's killing and the cover up.
Heather Casias, 39, and David Hampton, 57, are also charged with murder. Freddie Salinas of Abernathy and James Andrew Anderson, 31, were charged with tampering with a corpse. Toby Daughtry, 43, and Amanda Blagburn, 37, were charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony that carries a punishment of six months to two years in a state jail facility.
Hampton, who entered an open guilty plea in 2022, was sentenced after a bench trial before McClendon to 60 years in prison for his role in Rodriguez's death.
Garza, who was provided testimonial immunity, testified against Hampton during the trial.
Garza told the court that Casias, who he was dating at the time, proposed a plan to rob Rodriguez of his debit card. He said he and Casias, who worked as a prostitute, lived in motels and Casias wanted out of prostitution and needed money to get an apartment.
He said Casias spent time with Rodriguez, whom she met at a game room, and learned he received monthly social security benefits that were deposited directly to his bank account. He said Casias also learned Rodriguez's PIN number, which she gave to him and Hampton.
Garza said he recruited Hampton, whom he knew from jail, to help with the robbery and came up with a plan that involved tying up Rodriguez, taking his card, withdrawing the money and releasing him.
Garza said they never intended to hurt Rodriguez, who he'd seen before with Casias at the Carriage House Inn. He said she called him "Old School."
"We really were just after his card," he said. "We were going to split [the money] three ways."
Garza said he, Hampton and Casias spent most of their days leading up to the murder getting high on methamphetamine waiting for the day Rodriguez would be getting his monthly social security check, which would be direct deposited to his bank account.
Garza said on the day of the robbery, he, Casias and Hampton were at one of Hampton's friend's apartments when Casias called Rodriguez over.
He said he and Hampton were in his tan Chevrolet Suburban and waited as Rodriguez arrived then moved to the passenger seat and let Casias drive.
They followed Rodriguez's Chrysler to a trailer home owned by another friend of Hampton's where they planned to rob Rodriguez.
Garza said their plan immediately went sideways.
He said part of the plan was to make it look as if Casias wasn't involved. So he approached Casias, grabbed her and put her in his Suburban. Meanwhile, Hampton was supposed to confront Rodriguez.
Garza said he didn't expect Rodriguez to put up a struggle. When he returned to the car, he said he saw Hampton striking Rodriguez twice - once in the chest and what appeared to be a glancing blow to the shoulder.
The top part of Rodriguez's body fell onto the driver seat and Garza said he placed a knee on the man's head to hold him down while Hampton searched his pockets.
Then he grabbed Rodriguez and handed him to Hampton who climbed into the backseat of the vehicle.
At that point, the plan to tie up Rodriguez fell apart and they improvised the next steps, which involved driving away from the scene in Rodriguez's vehicle.
"We couldn't leave the car at that spot," he said. "[Hampton's] friend was aware we were there."
He said as he was backing out of the vehicle, he could see Hampton holding Rodriguez, who appeared limp, with an arm over his neck.
After his arrest, Garza led investigators to a field in Abernathy where they dumped his body.
A medical examiner told the court that a complete autopsy would be impossible as Rodriguez's body was so decomposed that a manner of death could not be confirmed.
However, he said he found Rodriguez's ribs were broken and his hyoid bone-- the small horseshoe-shaped bone that sits in the midline of the neck -- was broken, which is consistent with strangulation deaths.
Rodriguez's case was initially investigated as a missing person's case. However, investigators learned that his debit card was being used in stores around town.
Garza and Hampton were identified as suspects in the case after security camera video from the stores showed them using the card.
In his interview with investigators, Garza identified all the parties involved in Rodriguez's death and the people who helped dump his body and hide his vehicle, which was found in Milam County.
Daughtry, Blagburn and Anderson have pleaded guilty to their roles in the case.
Casias and Salinas still await trial.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Co-defendant gets 50 years for role in elderly Slaton man's killing
