Former Fort Bliss veterans face prison sentences in drug robbery murder 'mission'

Two men are set to be sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder in the 2017 brutal killing of an Afghanistan war veteran whose throat was slit with a knife during a drug robbery, court records show.

Tristan Hunter Chilton and Adam Acosta pleaded guilty April 12 to one count of murder in the death of Tyler Kaden Croke, 23, on May 7, 2017, during a drug robbery at the Cantera Apartments at 1501 Lomaland Drive in East El Paso.

The plea agreement is for 35 years in prison, El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks said. The men will officially be sentenced May 17 before 168th District Court Judge Marcos Lizarraga at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.

Hicks declined to comment on the specifics of the case since the case against one suspect, Brandon Olsen, remains pending in court.

"All I can do is tell you that based on the culpability of those two (Chilton and Acosta) was why we made the decision we made for what the plea recommendation would be," Hicks said. "I'll tell you that one of the two of them made a very passionate plea for a lesser sentence, for less than 35 years. He accepted responsibility for their actions, acknowledged their youth at the time of the offense, acknowledged their service to this country while in the Army, acknowledged their medals and accommodations that they had received in the Army.

"All of that, very passionate, very heartfelt plea to lower their sentence from the 35-year plea recommendation. We denied that based on the horrible, horrible way that Tyler Croke was murdered. We felt that justice in this case was the minimum of 35 years for both."

More: Juárez man serving life in New Mexico receives federal prison sentence in immigration case

Chilton and Acosta, a former Fort Bliss soldier, are the third and fourth defendants to be convicted in Croke's death. The other suspects arrested are Olsen, Zachary Johnston and Stephanie Fernandez.

Johnston and Fernandez were sentenced to life in prison for capital murder for their roles in Croke's death.

Croke was a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Afghanistan. Acosta, Johnston, and Olsen, who were stationed at Fort Bliss at the time of the killing, are former Fort Bliss soldiers.

Military tactics used to kill Croke

The five defendants went to Croke's apartment May 7, 2017, to conduct a drug deal, a complaint affidavit states. The four men went into the apartment while Fernandez acted as a getaway driver, according to testimony in Fernandez's trial in 2018.

Chilton told detectives that Acosta entered the apartment with a shotgun, the affidavit states. The other men then walked into the apartment.

In a police interrogation video played during her trial, Fernandez told detectives the men planned to rob Croke using military tactics, such as entering and clearing a room similar to how they did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It was straight up like they were doing a mission out in the field," Fernandez told detectives.

More: 'Generosity lived in his heart': Daughter reflects on father's life, killer's conviction

Olsen and Johnston wrestled Croke to the floor while Chilton held his legs down, the affidavit states. A neighbor told police that she had heard loud footsteps and a man pleading for his life.

Croke broke free and started crawling away from the men, Fernandez told detectives. Johnston stabbed Croke and cut his throat with a knife, Chilton told detectives, the affidavit states.

Olsen allegedly "finished killing the victim by cutting his throat with a knife while the victim was attempting to crawl away," the affidavit states.

The group took three baggies of what appeared to be either cocaine or ketamine from Croke's apartment, Fernandez told detectives. They fled in a black Nissan Xterra driven by Fernandez. She claimed she only participated in the killing because she feared for her life.

Police went to the apartment about 1:30 a.m. after getting a call about an unknown problem. They spoke with a neighbor who heard a man begging for his life, the affidavit states. After getting no answer at the apartment, officers opened the unlocked door and found Croke's nude body face down.

On the night of the killing, a witness saw four people enter the Xterra, which had a person in the driver's seat. Detectives found the Xterra at an apartment in Socorro and set up surveillance.

More: El Paso mayor candidate's brother indicted in NBA multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme

The Xterra was later pulled over for traffic violations. Chilton was driving the Xterra with Fernandez in the passenger seat. Fernandez was arrested on charges of possession of methamphetamine and cocaine, and traffic warrants, police officials said.

Chilton was taken to police headquarters for questioning, and he told detectives what happened to Croke, the affidavit states. Olsen was later arrested in connection with the killing.

Fernandez, during her interrogation, told detectives the men placed the knives used in the attack in a pot and filled it with bleach. The men took the drugs, knives and clothes to a home in Las Cruces, Fernandez said.

They left the shotgun hidden in a closet at Fernandez's home and demanded that she take it to Las Cruces the next day, Fernandez said during the interrogation. She took the shotgun to the home in Las Cruces. The men and Fernandez drove to a deserted area where they burned the clothes, Fernandez told detectives.

Johnston and Acosta were arrested in Las Cruces and extradited to El Paso.

Two other defendants sentenced to life, 1 case remains pending

Fernandez has been the only defendant to go to trial. The other three suspects pleaded guilty, while one case remains pending.

"We made plea recommendations in each of the defendant's cases, and we made the recommendations based on their level of culpability," Hicks said. "One of the defendants opted to not take that recommendation and went to trial. She got life in prison without parole as a result of going to trial. Three defendants have accepted plea agreements that we made. Again, the plea agreements were all made based on their level of culpability. The final defendant has yet to go to trial. There is an outstanding plea agreement. If he accepts it, he pleads guilty."

Hicks declined to comment further since Olsen's case remains pending in state district court. Olsen is charged with one count of capital murder. He is scheduled to go to trial Monday, May 13. He also is facing a charge of having a deadly weapon in a penal institution, court records show.

A jury convicted Fernandez of capital murder March 23, 2018. She received an automatic life sentence since the El Paso District Attorney's Office was not seeking the death penalty.

Johnston, who was initially charged with capital murder, pleaded guilty Dec. 12, 2019, to the lesser charge of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison in a plea agreement.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former Fort Bliss soldiers face prison sentences in vet's drug deal murder