AUSTIN, Texas — A man has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for a 2019 murder in Austin.
The Travis County District Attorney's Office said on May 16, a jury convicted 36-year-old Francisco Lopez Jr. of murder in connection with the death of Guillermo Bernal Gomez, 32, on June 23, 2019 and sentenced him to 28 years in prison.
On Feb. 11, 2020, the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested Lopez and charged him with Gomez's murder at an apartment complex on Southridge Drive. On March 23, 2020, Lopez was indicted for murder.
But Lopez was not the only person charged in connection with Gomez's murder. Evan Zanders was arrested on Feb. 4, 2020, and indicted for murder on the same day as Lopez, March 23, 2020.
On Jan. 23, 2023, Zanders pleaded guilty.
Background on this case
According to previous reporting by KVUE, on June 26, 2019, a witness told police that Gomez had a substantial drug debt and that soon after his murder, Lopez told him over the phone that he had been ordered to kill Gomez by the cartel, using the phrase "green light," meaning that Gomez had been killed.
Court documents stated that Zanders later told police he witnessed Gomez's murder. He said he received a call from Lopez on the night of the murder asking him to set up a fake drug deal for two ounces of "dope" at an apartment complex so Lopez could kill him.
Police said Lopez told them he made a plan with Zanders to kill Gomez. He admitted to driving Gomez and Zanders to the apartments on Southbridge Drive, where Gomez was eventually shot and killed.