SAN ANTONIO – A jury on Wednesday found a woman guilty of hiring an undercover officer to kill her boyfriend’s sister.
Jurors deliberated for nearly three hours before finding Angelica Navarro-DePaz guilty of solicitation capital murder trial.
Navarro-DePaz faces 5 to 99 years or life in prison.
Six days of testimony in the trial revealed two different versions of a story.
The prosecution presented video and audio evidence of Navarro-DePaz making a deal for $1,400 they say was to have her boyfriend’s sister, Anayeli Mendoza Flores, killed because she owed her $40,000.
Navarro-DePaz testified to making the deal but only because she was told she had to and that her life and the lives of her children were being threatened.
She claimed the confidential informant named “Katie” was behind the entire set-up and said “Katie” and Flores were part of a criminal organization.
That confidential informant passed away last year, but Flores testified and claimed she had no idea who “Katie” was. Flores admitted she owed Navarro-DePaz money because Navarro-DePaz helped her get into the U.S. illegally.
During closing arguments Wednesday morning, the state said Navarro-DePaz’s story was all made up.
“She’s has had five years to think of this story and come up with the lies she has told you,” prosecutor Nicole Phillips said.
Meanwhile, the defense said that the words Navarro-DePaz spoke in the audio and video evidence were all scripted but she never intended for the hit to be carried out.
“There has to be intent from the defendant to have the hit carried out to find her guilty and there’s no proof she ever wanted this crime carried out,” the defense attorney said.