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MANTI — An inmate who brutally killed his cellmate while incarcerated was sentenced on Friday to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Julio Cesar Garza, 31, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, on March 3.
Garza assaulted his cellmate for over seven minutes without stopping, and the man suffered injuries similar to having a car driven over his head, said Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels.
Garza was previously serving a term of five years to life for aggravated robbery. Daniels said he has committed multiple other crimes while in prison in addition to beating his cellmate to death and had already been given multiple chances to change his behavior.
The victim, Carlos-Adrian Javier Hernandez, 24, was in prison for raping and killing a 15-year old girl, Keely Amber Hall, in St. George when he was 14. He was tried as an adult and was serving a prison term of between 15 years and life when he was killed.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret what happened to Carlos Hernandez," Garza said at the sentencing. "I truly didn't mean to take his life. My actions caused that and I'm responsible for my actions, we all are, and I regret it every day."
Daniels noted that during the trial, law enforcement officers had said that this case was the worst they had seen in their careers. He said other inmates are watching this case, and he hopes a sentence of life without parole spreads a message throughout the prison that could deter crimes.
Attorney Richard Gale, who represented Garza, argued in favor of a sentence of 25 years to life, which would have given Garza an opportunity for parole. Gale invited a mitigation expert, a lawyer who had prosecuted someone accused of trafficking boys including Garza, and people who knew Garza.
Constance Maestas, the grandmother of one of Garza's two daughters, said he is a good father and has a good heart. She talked about listening to him on calls with his daughters.
"I do feel like he does deserve a chance, everyone deserves a chance ... not for himself but for his children," Maestas said.
Garza's older sister, Almaida Yanagui, talked about how hard their childhood was and said Garza was bullied in elementary school and was suicidal. She said he has never had a support system, but now that she has since gotten help, she would like to be a support system for him if he were to get out of prison. She said that this was the first time that she has been able to speak up for her brother.
Sixth District Judge Wallace Lee thanked everyone who spoke on behalf of Garza, and took time to consider the sentence, but ultimately decided that the aggravating nature of the crime outweighed the circumstances that led Garza to commit the crime. He said what Garza went through as a child does not justify or excuse the brutality of his actions before ordering the life without parole sentence.
He did tell Garza that he appreciated his demeanor throughout the jury trial and the sentencing, and said he came away with a different feeling about Garza than he had previously, which he said was one of the things he considered as a mitigating factor.
"I want you to know that to me your life matters very, very much," Lee said before sentencing him.
However, the judge said that he also considered his responsibility to society and public safety and noted that the crime was "particularly heinous and brutal." He also noted that there have been other violent crimes committed by Garza while he has been an inmate.
"What you did in this case, Mr. Garza, shocks, shocks the conscience of this court," Lee said.
