News Flash

A man convicted of the brutal murder of a San Antonio college student was sentenced this morning to life in prison.

Ernesto Esquivel Garcia, 21, was convicted in August for the June 2018 murder of Jared Vargas, 20. Vargas had been missing for three days before his body was found burning inside an apartment.

Assistant District Attorney Brandon Ramsey told the court Garcia “took Jared Vargas’s life, then took all of (Vargas’s) worldly possessions after that” and that Garcia set the fire to “in (Garcia’s) words get rid of the evidence.” 

“He took away the ability for the parents of Jared Vargas to say goodbye to their son,” Ramsey said.

Garcia was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Kevin O’Connell of the 227^th Criminal District Court.

Garcia, who was in the United States illegally, faces deportation once he is released from prison.

“Our focus - our goal - is to bring justice to the victim, so we review the facts of each case without regard to citizenship,” said Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales. 

While Garcia is first eligible for parole in 30 years, the Criminal District Attorney’s Office and the Vargas Family will oppose Garcia’s release by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Also this week, a Bexar County jury in the 399^th District Court convicted a man for the murder of two people during what was described as “eight minutes of hell and terror” by Mario Del Prado, Chief of the Bexar County District Attorney’s Felony Division.

Manuel Garcia was found guilty of capital murder for the February 2015 deaths of Patrick Moore and Samuel White. During the trial, a witness testified that Garcia took her car,  drove around San Antonio’s East Side, and there used the car to run over both Mr. Moore and Mr. White more than one time. Four others were also struck and injured by Garcia during the rampage – which Assistant District Attorney Gretchen Flader argued was clearly intentional.

The jury assessed Garcia a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Finally, a Bexar County Grand Jury indicted a San Antonio woman for a murder charge. The indictment alleges that on July 14, 2019, Aliza Marie Cantu intentionally and knowingly caused the death of Marc Anthony Ramirez by shooting him with a firearm. The case is currently pending in the 186^th District Court.