On June 1st, an Atascosa County jury convicted Abel C. Esquivel for the May 31, 2019 murder of his son, Abel S. Esquivel. On that day the two men got into an argument, and the defendant went inside and retrieved a pistol. The defendant fired the fatal shot as the victim was walking away, striking him in the back of the head. The defendant’s inconsistent defense alleged that the shooting was an accident, but if it wasn’t an accident, then it was self-defense or defense of property. Surveillance video recovered from the defendant’s home clearly showed the defendant follow his son after an argument and shoot him in the back of the head.
During the punishment phase of the trial, the defense changed yet again to argue that the murder was committed with sudden passion, which would bring his maximum sentence down to 20 years. The jury also heard evidence that although the defendant was a veteran of the Air Force, he had repeatedly abused two of his past wives and children, including incidents where he threatened them with the same gun he used to kill his son. The jury rejected his defense yet again and sentenced him to 44 years in prison.
Thank you to the jury for their thoughtful consideration of the evidence. The case was investigated by the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office who did an excellent job recovering the evidence necessary to bring the defendant to justice. I am extremely proud of the work of Atascosa Chief Asst. DA Bradlee Thornton, Asst. DA Ryan Wright, and Chief Investigator Roland Trevino for ensuring the defendant was brought to justice.
ATASCOSA JURY GIVES MAN 44 YEARS FOR KILLING HIS SON
