Two men indicted on murder charges in separate cases entered plea agreements last week in Ector County District Court and will be serving prison sentences of 25 and 20 years respectively.
Jose Manuel Cuellar-Vigil, 18, pleaded guilty to murder in the February 2021 shooting death of Fabian Reyna, 14, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Judge Denn Whalen of the 70th District Court.
According to an Ector County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies were summoned to West Blair and North Alexander about a gunshot victim around 5 p.m. Feb. 16, 2021. When they arrived, they found a 20-year-old man performing chest compressions on Reyna and a 43-year-old woman applying pressure to a gunshot wound to the boy’s left side, but it was too late.
The 20-year-old told investigators Reyna had asked him for a ride to a home on Lindberg Street so he could get money from someone who owed it to him, but when they pulled up in front of the house, one of several young guys outside pulled a gun and began firing at them, the report stated.
The man said the road was so icy he couldn’t get any traction.
The 20-year-old “said he started to drive him to the hospital, but didn’t think he would make it so he stopped and tried to get some help,” the report stated.
The woman told deputies she was returning home from the grocery store when she was flagged down, the report stated.
Deputies observed two bullet holes in the rear of his car, one in the trunk and one in the rear windshield, the report stated. The bullets traveled through the backseat and one entered and exited the front passenger seat.
Cuellar-Vigil was arrested the following day.
Cuellar-Vigil’s mother, Marisela Vigil Zamudio and sister, Keyna Cuellar, 19, were arrested in February after Ector County jail officials accused them of smuggling vape pens containing THC to him at the jail.
Jesiah Villescas, 23, pleaded guilty to murder in the January 2020 shooting death of Jesse Tryon Jr. according to his indictment.
On Jan. 25, 2020, Odessa Police Department officers received a 911 call about two gunshot victims at the Parkway Inn on East Highway 80. When they arrived, they found Jesse Tryon Jr. mortally wounded and Savion Cottrell, another 18-year-old from Midland, suffering a life-threatening gunshot wound.
Authorities determined the teenagers were shot during a robbery/drug deal.
Last week, Villescas pleaded guilty to felony murder, manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and attempted capital murder and received three concurrent sentences of 20 years each. In exchange, three other charges were dismissed: tampering with evidence and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Now retired Judge James Rush rejected the plea agreement last October, but newly elected Judge Lori Ruiz-Crutcher accepted it Thursday.
At the time of Rush’s decision, prosecutors indicated Tryon’s family did not object to the plea agreement.
Johnathen Sanchez is serving two concurrent 20-year prison terms after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance in the case and Johnny Brian Hernandez, who was accused of firing the fatal shots, pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and is serving concurrent sentences of 50 and 20 years, respectively.
