Triple murder decision
A district court judge accepted plea agreements from three defendants charged in a 2019 triple homicide at an El Cerro home.
On Dec. 15, Brandon Dowdy, Robert Wilson and Anthony Williams, who were 18, 19 and 17, respectively, at the time of the crime, accepted pleas which resulted in sentences with little to no incarceration beyond what they have already served. All three were in custody after being charged in the killings of Darrin Bernal, Nathan Morrison and Joseph Santiago in April 2019.
Julia M. Dendinger | News-Bulletin photo
Anthony Williams, 20, stands as he is sentenced by 13th Judicial District Court Judge Cindy Mercer last week. Williams was one of three defendants sentenced that day for a 2019 triple homicide.
The three teens were charged with three counts of first-degree murder each in 2019, but 13th Judicial District Attorney Barbara Romo says the case “is another example of incorrect or over charging by a prosecutor who is no longer with the office.” Romo was not the district attorney when the charges were filed.
The plea offered to Dowdy and Wilson were three counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The two pleaded guilty to all three counts.
Each count carried a sentence of 18 months for a total of 4 1/2 years, which was suspended. The agreement gave Dowdy and Wilson, both now 21 years old, credit for time served — two years and 10 months — that counts toward the 4 1/2 years of post-incarceration probation. A suspended sentence is a term of imprisonment convicted criminal defendants do not have to serve provided they abide by all terms of their probation.
Williams, now 20, was identified by multiple witnesses as the person who fired the fatal shots. He entered a plea of no contest on three counts of voluntary manslaughter.
Under the law, since he was a juvenile at the time of the crime, Williams can only be confined until he is 21 years old, a benchmark he will hit in 4 1/2 months.
More than half a dozen family members of the three dead men spoke during the sentencing, pleading with Mercer to not accept the pleas, for Williams specifically.
As she looked at the three defendants, Rosanna Martinez, Nathan Morrison’s mother, said she saw no remorse.
“So I can’t forgive you at this time,” Martinez said. “My nights are long without my son, but my mornings are longer, knowing I have to begin my day without him.”
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April 18, 2024
