SAN ANTONIO – A man convicted of fatally stabbing another man was sentenced Monday in a Bexar County court.
Sebastian Hernandez was sentenced to 32 years in prison in connection with the death of Christopher Olivarez in September 2021.
In August, Hernandez pleaded no contest to fatally stabbing Christopher Olivarez at his home in the 300 block of Kirk Place.
The maximum punishment Hernandez could be sentenced to was 32 years, per the August plea deal.
Several witnesses delivered testimony for both the defense and state during the hearing.
About the investigation
As homicide investigators arrived at the scene the day of the murder in 2021, they found several surveillance cameras and a Ring door camera. After reviewing some of the footage, they noticed an unknown man had appeared multiple times, but they could not identify him.
Police and Crime Stoppers released some video clips to the public, hoping for tips that would help identify the unknown man. One of the videos showed a man walking in the backyard of Olivarez’s home while talking on a cell phone. The video was recorded 11 days before Olivarez was stabbed.
SAPD released two other videos from the day of the crime that showed a man leaving the home and driving away in Olivarez’s 2014 Lexus. The vehicle was found abandoned several days after the crime, outside of city limits, according to police.
A credible tip led police to Hernandez. Detectives contacted him, and he agreed to come to the office, give a statement and provide a DNA sample. However, at the time, police didn’t have enough evidence to detain him, so he was let go.
Police said the DNA sample was sent to labs and later came back as a match to forensic evidence found at the crime scene and on the murder weapon -- a knife. Detectives got an arrest warrant for Hernandez in 2022 and later arrested him at his home in central San Antonio.
Hernandez was an acquaintance of Olivarez, according to police.