Jorge Esparza, the man accused of stalking and killing his romantic rival was found guilty Wednesday morning after a reset murder trial in Dallas County.
He was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday afternoon after the jury heard witnesses during the punishment phase of the trial.
Esparza entered a not-guilty plea for the shooting death of Ricardo Medina-Madriz in August 2020.
Day one of testimony began with jurors hearing from the woman at the center of the case.
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This is a re-set of the case. Back in April, as the trial got underway, the judge recused herself from cases against Esparza after she made comments about the case while the court was in recess.
Her comments were made while court proceedings were being live-streamed on YouTube.
On Tuesday morning, Denise, the woman Esparza was in love with, spoke about her intimate and non-exclusive relationship with the defendant. Denise had just returned home from a date with Medina-Madriz on August 9, 2020.
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Medina-Madriz, a registered nurse and graduate student at the University of Texas at Arlington, was shot and killed near Denise’s home in South Dallas on Jeffries Street.
Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the jury came back with a unanimous guilty of murder verdict.
The punishment phase began shortly after the verdict was read and is underway.
