ROSWELL — A Mexican national who strangled his girlfriend to death in their southeast Roswell home before fleeing across the southern border with their 3-year-old son four years ago, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
New Mexico 5th Judicial District Judge Thomas Lilley handed down the sentence against 37-year-old Jorge Ernesto Rico-Ruvira during an emotional three-hour hearing in Roswell.
In accordance with the sentence Lilley imposed, which was largely in line with the one recommended by the Office of the New Mexico Attorney General, who prosecuted the case, Rico-Ruvira was given 15 years for second-degree murder for the death of Isela Mauricio-Sanchez.
He also received another three years for abuse of a child for leaving the victim’s 7-year-old daughter home alone with her mother’s body. The sentences for both crimes will run consecutively. He was found not guilty on a charge of first-degree murder during that trial.
Rico-Ruvira begins his prison term with 786 days of credit for time served and indicated that he will appeal the guilty verdict from the October trial.
—Roswell Daily Record
