Posted 1:11 am Friday, June 26, 2009
Tyler Man, 36, Pleads Guilty To Criminal Negligent Homicide
By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer
A 36-year-old Tyler man who was originally charged with murder pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal negligent homicide for the shooting death of a 50-year-old man.
Staff Writer
A 36-year-old Tyler man who was originally charged with murder pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal negligent homicide for the shooting death of a 50-year-old man.
Gilberto Alvarez Ontiveros was sentenced Thursday by 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr. to 2 years in state prison for the death of Martin Valdez Valle on Nov. 4, 2008.
Ontiveros, with his attorney Buck Files, entered into a plea agreement with Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham.
He pleaded guilty to the state jail felony charge of criminal negligent homicide for the state jail sentence. Ontiveros was facing five years to life in prison for a murder charge.
"We totally believe this is an appropriate punishment and accept the plea," Files said.
Bingham said an investigation into the case revealed that Ontiveros, on several occasions, contacted the Smith County Sheriff's Department and Tyler Police Department to report that Valle threatened to kill him. Bingham said that information was also confirmed by the victim's common-law wife.
Ontiveros was originally indicted for Valle's murder on Jan. 8 by a grand jury in Skeen's court.
Bingham said that the charge of criminal negligent homicide was chosen because the state felt like the situation was more than a case of self defense.
The defendant drove himself to the Tyler Police Department to turn himself in and was met by officers in the parking lot on the afternoon of the shooting. Valle's body was discovered behind his green Ford Explorer on the corner of Walling Drive and Farm-to-Market Road 3271 in front of several mailboxes.
The two men had a long standing conflict, police said.
