By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A man who pleaded guilty to murder and arson for killing a woman by setting her on fire has been sentenced to life in prison.
Oscar Enrique Gonzalez was sentenced during a hearing in 63rd Judicial District Court Monday.
Gonzalez, 39, pleaded guilty in May 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 police officer driving by the house just before 8 a.m. on July 29, 2018, 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.
Following his guilty pleas, Gonzalez asked his sentence be imposed by a judge, and Judge Sid Harle, presiding judge of the 4th Administrative Judicial Region, who had been assigned to the case, presided over Monday’s hearing.
In announcing the sentence, Harle told Gonzalez, “I have reviewed the evidence. . . and I see no other choice than to sentence you to life on counts two and three (murder and arson).”
He then remanded Gonzalez to the custody of the sheriff’s office.
Before passing sentence, Harle listened to testimony from witnesses and heard closing statements from Daniel De La Garza of San Antonio, the attorney appointed to represent Gonzalez, and from Assistant District Attorney Jessica Shawver-Savino, who presented the state’s case.
Shawver-Savino began her closing by referencing a surveillance video that recorded Cervantes’ murder. The video was played during the hearing.
“Nobody can forget what they saw on that screen. . . You don’t often see a murder being committed. You very seldom see it, and heinous is the only word for it. Horrific is all I can say about the defendant’s actions,” Shawver-Savino said.
Shawver-Savino said the video showed Gonzalez made no attempt to help Cervantes; to the contrary, she said, Gonzalez went back into the house, came back out into the front yard and sprayed Cervantes with some type of accelerant.
“There is no remorse in his actions,” Shawver-Savino said.
Shawver-Savino also pointed out the video was crucial in building a criminal case against Gonzalez.
“He was very close to getting away with it. . . In the beginning, (Cervantes’ death) was believed to be an accident. The video was the turning point to murder,” she told the court.
“So what should the consequences be?”, Shawver-Savino asked.
Del Rio police detectives who investigated the case located the surveillance tape and developed Gonzalez as the prime suspect.
She said Cervantes had devoted her life to caring for others, her family members and her children, and in her work life, as a nurse.
Cervantes made the mistake of loving and trusting the wrong person, Shawver-Savino said, and Gonzalez took advantage of that love and trust by brutally murdering her, then fleeing to Mexico.
“We ask that (Gonzalez) spend the rest of his life behind bars,” Shawver-Savino finished.
De La Garza’s closing statement was brief.
“There are no winners in this,” he said and asked that Harle impose “something less than a life sentence.”
Harle also gave Gonzalez an opportunity to speak before passing sentence.
Gonzalez and his attorney stood up, facing the judge’s bench.
“She was a great woman, and the only thing I can say is I’m sorry. . . That’s all I have to say is I’m sorry,” Gonzalez said.
After the judge imposed the life sentence, Gonzalez listened to victim impact statements from members of Cervantes’ family, beginning with one of Cervantes’ sisters.
“Words cannot describe our family and suffering, and this pain and suffering is never going to end for us. We are all broken and trying to live with the hurt,” she said.
The sister said seeing butterflies comforts her, saying they evoke Cervantes’ spirit.
Cervantes’ mother, too overwhelmed by emotion to read her statement, asked Michelle Salinas, an investigator for the district attorney’s office, to read it for her.
Alex Cervantes, the murder victim’s ex-husband, also read a lengthy statement, standing with his children.
His voice often shaking, Cervantes called Sabrina “the love of my life” and told Gonzalez, “You were an enabler of her worst demons.”
“Her children will carry her legacy. You lost, and she won,” Cervantes told Gonzalez.
“I love you, Sabrina. You made me complete. Rest in peace forever. I love you, and we love you,” Cervantes finished.
Another of Cervantes’ sisters also read a statement.
Clearly angry, the woman told Gonzalez, “My life has changed. I carry so much pain and guilt, and I wish I would have listened to her better.”
Her voice shaking, she finished, “I hate you, and I will never forgive you. I wish you not a day’s peace, and I hope you rot in hell.”
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