Nephew pleads guilty to manslaughter, gets 20 years

Melchor Antonio Labrada Hernandez
Melchor Antonio Labrada Hernandez

NEW BOSTON, Texas - A nephew pleaded guilty to manslaughter Tuesday in the fatal March shooting of his uncle and received a maximum 20-year prison term.

Melchor Antonio Labrada Hernandez, 24, was indicted for murder earlier this year by a Bowie County grand jury in the death of his uncle, 30-year-old Antonio Labrada. Hernandez was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter and accepted the maximum punishment for that offense following consultation with the victim's family, which is also the defendant's family.

"In light of the close relation between the victim and the defendant, this family justifiably wished to avoid the stress and difficulty of trial, preferring instead an agreed resolution," First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said.

Hernandez appeared at the hearing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell with Texarkana lawyer Shorty Barrett.

Crisp said at several pretrial hearings that she had difficulty arranging meetings with Labrada's family because some of them are not legally in the U.S. and feared speaking to law enforcement. Crisp said the circumstances of the offense led her office to determine a plea to a lesser offense would serve justice.

"In preparing for trial, the District Attorney's Office discovered evidence that would support a jury finding of sudden passion. In Texas, if a defendant is convicted of murder, in the second phase of the trial, the jury next decides if the defendant acted under the influence of sudden passion at the time of the offense. If the jury makes that finding, the punishment range is reduced from 5 to 99 years or life, to the applicable punishment range for manslaughter, which is 2 to 20 years. With the development of mitigating evidence, a reduction of the charge was warranted. As such, the defendant received the maximum sentence allowed by law for a manslaughter conviction," Crisp said.

Hernandez has been in jail since his arrest in March with a hold placed on him by immigration. Upon release from custody, Hernandez is expected to be deported.

Labrada was at his house on Waterman Street in Texarkana, Texas, drinking with friends when he answered a call from his nephew shortly before midnight March 1, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Hernandez wanted Labrada to pay back some money he believed his uncle owed him and the conversation became heated. Labrada told his wife that Hernandez wanted him to come to his residence on Summerhill Road in Texarkana, Texas, to fight.

Labrada drove to Hernandez's home and the two became engaged in a physical altercation. A witness in the residence told officers she observed Labrada on top of Hernandez punching him in the head.

Labrada walked away from Hernandez, ending the physical confrontation.

"Antonio (Labrada) began to laugh, and (the witness) turned around and observed Melchor (Hernandez) with a .22 caliber rifle, pointing it at Antonio," the affidavit states.

Labrada allegedly clutched his chest and said, "He hit me," before falling to the ground. A rifle and a cellphone believed to belong to Hernandez were recovered from the Summerhill residence. Labrada died at the scene.

 

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