Editor’s note: This story contains details that may be sensitive for some readers.
After only five minutes of deliberation, an Erath County jury found Jesus Manuel Deleon, Sr. guilty of first degree murder of his former girlfriend, Dora Santamaria Hernandez, 42. He was sentenced on Tuesday, June 6 to 40 years in prison.
Deleon will be required to serve at least half of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.
The crime occurred March 27, 2022 at 410 West Valley Street in Dublin around 8 p.m.
The homicide trial opened on Monday, June 5 in the 266th Judicial District Court in Stephenville.
District Attorney Alan Nash addressed jurors with his opening statement detailing the crime and said that Deleon had chased the victim, shot several vehicles and then killed the victim.
After shooting Hernandez, Deleon fled the scene in a black F-150 truck which was later located in Hamilton County on March 28, 2022. On March 30, 2022 Deleon was taken into custody at Eagle Pass after crossing into Mexico and coming back to Texas where he turned himself in.
“Ultimately, you are going to hear, what encapsulates this case, where the defendant describes an extramarital relationship he had developed with Dora that had been going on for quite some time and how he shot her and killed her,” Nash said. “The forensic evidence is going to show that this defendant chased Dora on foot, around this manufactured home on Valley Street and ultimately shot her in cold blood in a rage and fled.”
Court-appointed attorney Andrew Ottoway offered a brief opening statement to the jury.
“And that’s exactly the case. Was this done in a rage or was this done as a cold blooded thing? And that’s something I would like you to continue to listen for throughout the trial. Was this something exciting, upsetting, emotional or was this calculated?” he said.
Ottoway opted not to call any witnesses throughout the two day trial.
On day one, jurors listened to a frantic 911 call taken by Dispatcher Tiana Gomes who had only been on the job for a month when the call came in.
The call included a Hispanic male yelling for help over and over again while Gomes and other dispatchers scrambled to get help for the shooting victim and for law enforcement to find the shooter.
In the call, the reporting person stated that Jesus Deleon was the person who shot the victim, however, since there was a language barrier it was not understood until later and confused with the town of DeLeon. There is also a Jesus Deleon, Senior and Junior – father and son. It was later discovered that Deleon Senior was the individual they were looking for.
Jurors also listened to testimony from Dublin Police Chief Cameron Ray who chronicled the details of his officers’ actions that evening. One of the first moves that Chief Ray made was to call for the help of Texas Ranger B.J. Hill who works with law enforcement across this portion of the state.
“There are just resources we needed that we don’t have,” Ray said. “Any time that he is called, he responds.”
The chief also put out an ‘all call’ to surrounding areas looking for the truck that had fled the scene. In between things, a female reported a black Ford F-150 stolen. In later testimony, the female recounted that it had not been stolen and was used by Deleon on the night of the murder.
Ranger Hill was also called to the stand to show crime scene photos and videos, allowing the jurors to get their first visual images of what had happened.
Hill showed jurors 270 crime scene photos including shell casings and several vehicles with bullet holes and broken glass along with the victim’s body.
The victim’s vehicle was loaded with groceries and had a shattered rear windshield and bullet holes in the front windshield. Hill explained to jurors the bullets trajectory was from back to front and that no blood was found in the vehicle.
The jurors also learned that Hernandez had a dating relationship with a man that lived in the manufactured home where the shooting occurred but he had relocated to Mexico.
Day 2
On day two of the trial, Ranger Hill once again took the stand and was questioned by defense on cross examination why the defendant turned himself in.
Ranger Hill testified that Deleon told him during an interview that it was because he had a strong conviction that he was not doing what is right. Ranger Jose Sanchez and Hill both took part in an interview with Deleon March 30, 2022 at the Maverick County Jail in Eagle Pass once he was apprehended.
At this time, the defendant waived his rights and agreed to speak with the Rangers.
In this interview, Deleon admitted that he shot at Hernandez and chased her throughout Dublin. He also admitted to having an affair with her and expressed remorse for the shooting.
Ranger Hill stated that during the interview Deleon said that Hernandez began extorting him for money, threatening to go to his wife with sexual photos if he did not pay. As time went on, she kept asking for more and more money.
Though Deleon claimed during the interview that Hernandez was attempting to run him over on the day of the murder, the evidence proved otherwise and eventually he stated he was lying about that.
Deleon said in the interview that on the day of the murder, Hernandez drove by Deleon’s house several times and he was afraid she was going to expose him. On the last time, he got in the black F150 and began to chase her throughout Dublin. He blocked her in on West Valley and got out of his vehicle with his firearm to talk to her. He had purchased the firearm from the Chicken House Flea Market and planned to “scare” Hernandez.
He chased the victim on foot, as she drove around to the back of the house. As Hernandez was running toward the front of the house, he shot her.
He admitted to Ranger Hill that he had to walk past her body to get to his vehicle after shooting her and her falling to the ground. Deleon stated he was in a rage and did not render aid when he walked pass her body.
After the murder, Deleon went to his house, took the truck to Hamilton County and ditched it. He then got a ride to San Antonio, took a bus to Eagle Pass and entered Piedras Negras, Mexico.
Feeling remorseful about the killing, he said he came back from Mexico the next morning to turn himself in.
On Tuesday, the jury got to see the entirety of Deleon’s interview with Ranger Sanchez acting as a translator.
During the confession, he was crying and stated that he loved her, but got tired of her asking for money. Three weeks prior to the murder, Deleon had reported her to immigration. (Ranger Hill reported on the first day of the trial that Hernandez was an undocumented immigrant.)
The jury deliberated for only five minutes on Tuesday before coming back with a guilty verdict. The jury then went into the sentencing phase and came back with a 40-year sentence handed down by Judge Jason Cashon.