(PatriotWise.com) — A North Carolina jury convicted an illegal alien of first-degree murder last week in connection with the 2021 stabbing death of his wife in the Raleigh apartment they shared with a roommate, WRAL in Raleigh reported.
Erick Hernandez-Mendez was sentenced to life without parole for the death of his wife, Christina Matos.
The 20-year-old Matos was found dead on April 4, 2021, in the apartment she shared with Hernandez-Mendez and their roommate, Kailey Lynch-Firicano.
Lynch-Firicano also faces charges of obstruction of justice and felony accessory to murder after the fact. She is currently on house arrest.
Matos was found by police conducting a welfare check after her parents had not heard from her in five days.
According to friends of the victim, she and Hernandez-Mendez had been secretly wed just six days before she was found dead. The pair had been friends since school and decided to marry so Hernandez-Mendez could become a legal resident.
Matos’ friends said that in exchange for marrying her, Hernandez-Mendez promised to pay Matos $15,000.
Matos died from multiple stab wounds to her neck, according to the death certificate.
Jurors deliberated for only four hours last Wednesday before returning a unanimous guilty verdict.
Following the verdict, Yolanda Matos, the victim’s mother, read a victim impact statement in which she berated the convicted killer for murdering her 20-year-old daughter.
Addressing the court through an interpreter, Christina’s father, Gerardo Matos, said Hernandez-Mendez deserved to “be in hell.”
After the victim’s family made their statements, Judge Keith Gregory sentenced Hernandez-Mendez to life in prison. The judge said that the defendant would not be provided with vocational or educational opportunities while serving his life sentence, explaining, “I want him to sit and think about what he did.”
Hernandez-Mendez’s attorney said they would appeal the verdict.
According to prosecutors, Lynch-Firicano helped Hernandez-Mendez avoid arrest by destroying or deleting evidence. She also allegedly provided false information to the police in an attempt to delay or deceive their investigation.
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