By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A man accused of killing a Del Rio woman by setting her on fire in the summer of 2018 pleaded guilty to murder and arson Friday during a state district court hearing.
Oscar Enrique Gonzalez, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of murder and one count of arson in the killing of Sabrina Rodriguez Cervantes, a Del Rio nurse and the mother of three children, at a house at 100 Ridgewood Drive off North Bedell Avenue in late July 2018.
A Del Rio Police Department officer driving by the house saw the fire and stopped to investigate. Cervantes was rushed to the emergency room here and then flown to San Antonio, where she died hours later.
Gonzalez absconded to Mexico shortly after he killed Cervantes. He was arrested by authorities in Mexico and held until he was retrieved and returned to the United States by the U.S. Marshal’s Service. Gonzalez was returned to custody in Val Verde County on Nov. 1, 2022.
Gonzalez and his appointed attorney, Daniel De La Garza of San Antonio, were scheduled to appear in state district court Friday for a hearing prior to his trial, which had been set for July 31.
Gonzalez, handcuffs on his wrists yoked to a chain wrapped around his waist, was escorted into the courtroom by two sheriff’s office deputies about 15 minutes before the start of the 9 a.m. Friday hearing. Gonzalez’s dark hair was cut short, and he wore jail attire, an orange t-shirt and orange pants, and he spoke animatedly with the deputy standing behind him as they waited for the hearing to start.
De La Garza arrived just before the hearing began, and Judge Sid Harle, presiding judge of the 4th Administrative Judicial Region, told those present he had been assigned to the case by Judge Stephen B. Ables following the voluntary recusal of 63rd Judicial District Judge Roland Andrade, who had been involved with the Gonzalez case while Andrade was employed by the district attorney’s office here.
After Harle announced the case, he said, “I have been led to believe that there has been a resolution to this case.”
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Shawver-Savino replied, “That’s correct, your Honor, the state has made an offer, and (that offer) has been accepted.”
De La Garza indicated he and his client were aware of the offer “and were going over it.”
Harle said this is the first he had formally heard of a resolution in the case and allowed Gonzalez and De La Garza to leave the courtroom to read over and discuss the offer made by the state.
Shortly after, members of Cervantes’ family filed into the courtroom gallery, many of them wearing black t-shirts screen-printed with photos of Cervantes, the date of her birth and death and the slogan “Forever In Our Hearts.”
The family members, about 20 in total, filled three rows of the gallery.
At 9:30 a.m., Harle called a formal recess until 10 a.m.
Just before 10 a.m., Gonzalez and his attorney returned to the courtroom, and one of the court bailiffs announced proceedings were about to resume. An anticipatory stillness fell over the courtroom as audience members stopped talking, and everyone waited for the judge.
When Harle returned to the bench, De La Garza announced Gonzalez had rejected the offer made by the district attorney’s office. Harle said he would step out of the courtroom while Shawver-Savino spoke to De La Garza about the offer, and De La Garza could make sure his client understood the offer.
Shawver-Savino and De La Garza conversed, then De La Garza spoke with Gonzalez, who turned briefly to look at the Cervantes family members seated in the gallery. Gonzalez then began signing papers in front of him.
After Harle returned to the courtroom, De La Garza said his client had changed his mind and would accept a plea agreement, though not the terms offered by the district attorney’s office, which were not publicly disclosed.
“He’s comfortable with pleading guilty,” De La Garza told the court.
Shawver-Savino reiterated Gonzalez had not accepted the terms offered by her office, noting he had agreed to plead guilty to two counts of the indictment against him.
Harle then swore Gonzalez in, spoke to him about his rights, and asked Gonzalez if he understood the “open plea” agreement, meaning he would plead guilty and be sentenced by the court at a later date.
Gonzalez indicated he understood.
Harle asked Gonzalez for his plea on the second count of the indictment, the count that charged him with murder.
“Guilty, your Honor,” Gonzalez said.
Harle next asked Gonzalez for his plea on the third count of the indictment, the count that charged him with arson.
“Guilty, your Honor,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez also told the court he was making his plea voluntarily, that no one had forced him to plead guilty and that he had been competently represented.
“Then I will accept your pleas and find you guilty,” Harle said.
The punishment phase of Gonzalez’s case will be conducted during a hearing set for 9 a.m. July 31.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
