A Texas man accused of gunning down his ex-girlfriend and her friend in a 2023 double murder will spend decades in prison, but not the rest of his life, leaving the victims’ families stunned and fuming.
Lazerith Carrillo, 22, accepted a plea deal in Bexar County in the 2023 shooting deaths of Alyssa Perez, 26, and her friend, Edward Acosta Jimenez, 32.
Carrillo had originally faced a capital murder charge, which carried the possibility of life without parole or the death penalty. That charge was later reduced to two counts of murder as part of the plea agreement.
And on March 30, a judge sentenced him to two concurrent 50-year prison terms, according to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office – meaning Carrillo could be eligible for parole after 25 years.
It’s a decision that has left the families of the victims blindsided.
Perez’s mother, Aimee Perez, and Jimenez’s sister, Jessica Acosta, told KSAT that they had expected the case to go to trial.
“We waited three years for this,” Perez said.
Since the killings of their loved ones in 2023, the devastated families have been hoping the trial would give them some sort of closure.
The 2023 killings
Alyssa Perez, 26, and her friend, Edward Acosta Jimenez, 32, were found shot to death just before 2 a.m. on January 27, 2023.
In a heartbreaking twist, it was Jimenez’s mother who found their bodies in a car parked outside her home on Trudell Street after she tried to wake her son for work, according to an arrest affidavit. She told police at the time that she did not recognize the woman or the vehicle.
Security video from a neighbor’s house showed that the shooting happened at 12:50 a.m. A man was seen walking away from the car after shots were fired, according to the affidavit.
Just two hours after Jimenez’s mother called police, a man reported that someone tried to carjack him at gunpoint in the 8300 block of Dudley, about a mile away from Trudell.
The carjacker, identified by police as Carrillo, was arrested, the affidavit states. He was 18 years old at the time. Police said the gun in his possession was the same caliber as the spent shell casings from the scene of the murder.
He was also found with Perez’s cellphone, which had a case containing her ID, social security card and debit card, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Carrillo’s fingerprint was found on the plastic cup inside the car. During a police interview, Carrillo admitted he knew the victims but denied being involved in their deaths.
When police spoke with Perez’s family, they said she had just broken up with her boyfriend, identified as Carrillo, and she told them that Carrillo shot at her car when she dropped him off earlier in the week, the affidavit states.
Prosecutors said forensic evidence, including DNA and fingerprints recovered from the vehicle, tied Carrillo to the killings.
District Attorney Joe Gonzales praised the outcome in a statement.
“I want to applaud the incredible efforts of the prosecution team and law enforcement involved in the case,” Gonzales said. “Because of their relentless pursuit of the truth, we were able to ensure that the individual responsible for this tragic crime faced the consequences of their actions.”
‘This wasn’t justice’
Emotions ran high in the Bexar County courtroom during Carrillo’s sentencing as the victims’ families confronted the man who killed their loved ones.
“You viciously took two lives – of people who trusted you – who actually cared about you,” Aimee Perez said in court, pointing her finger at Carrillo.
Another relative sobbed as she spoke about the victims.
“Her life wasn’t over, it wasn’t supposed to be over,” she cried. “And you took that from me. Why did you do that? You broke us.”
The families who had fought three years for justice made sure to be in court for the sentencing, but told KSAT they were stunned by the sudden plea deal decision and claimed the prosecutors contacted them just days before the plea was finalized.
“They called us at 5 o’clock on Friday, and they did want us to have something ready for Monday,“ Jessica Acosta said. “Everything was rushed. Even when we asked, ‘Why are we rushing? We were supposed to start a trial the following week. Why couldn’t we wait for Judge (Stephanie) Boyd to be here?’ But they had no answers.”
Perez said the Bexar County DA’s Office reached out to their family on Friday unexpectedly, and that they weren’t prepared.
“We kept telling them that we’re not prepared for this,” she said. “I mean, three years, and then they tell us this (on) Friday? I mean, this is not fair.”
The frustration extended beyond the timing of the plea, as Acosta said the family felt ignored by prosecutors in court.
“When we came in (Monday), they (DA’s office staff) wouldn’t even speak to us,” Acosta claimed. “They wouldn’t even look at us until after the sentencing was done. Then, they tried to come and give us the fake smiles and the fake hugs, but this wasn’t justice. In my opinion, they’re all cowards.”
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told KSAT that prosecutors had communicated with the families about the possibility of a plea deal.
“We contacted the family on Wednesday, March 18, to discuss the potential plea agreement and followed up with a phone call on Friday morning, March 20, to inform them that our office had finalized the offer,” the spokesperson said.
“We understand that this was not the end result the families were seeking. However, every detail of the case was thoroughly considered, including the family’s desired result.
“Ultimately, we secured a sentence that guarantees the defendant has acknowledged his culpability and is being held accountable for his actions.”
Acosta said that the prosecutors had previously described the case as a “slam dunk” and that they “held onto that, believing them.”
“They lied to us, every single day for those three years,” she said. “We wanted our day in court. We wanted justice, which was not given to us.”
‘We’re going to be her voice’
For both families, the sentencing marks a new chapter that they say will be focused on making sure Carrillo serves as much of his sentence as possible.
“We will be there every single time to protest his release, so that he serves every single day of those 50 years,” Acosta said.
“We’re going to be her voice. We’re all who she has right now,” Perez added. “We’re going to stand up for her. We’re going to be heard – for her.”
