ALPINE — Lisette McGuire of Marathon was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Brewster County jury on Tuesday for her role in the 2018 hit-and-run death of Alpine resident Aquiles Armendariz Gonzales.

McGuire is due back in court on Monday for her sentencing, according to the Brewster County District Clerk’s office.

On social media, friends and family of Gonzales expressed relief as the long-awaited trial began last week, and when the verdict was rendered eight days later. “5 years later and Justice has been served!!” wrote one supporter, who had changed their profile photo to one of Gonzales.

In the early morning hours of April 29, 2018, Alpine police officers responded to reports of a hit-and-run at the 400 block of North 17th Street and arrived to find Gonzales suffering from severe trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle.

He was transported to the trauma unit of Big Bend Regional Medical Center, where he died shortly after arrival.

Witnesses to the hit-and-run told authorities that the vehicle that struck Gonzales was a 2012 GMC Acadia driven by Lisette McGuire. Police at the time confirmed that McGuire and Gonzales had a child together.

McGuire was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder. Her bail was set at $150,000, and she was released on bond shortly after. 

A passenger, Jon Jay Whitley, traveling with McGuire at the time of the incident was also arrested and charged with failing to report a felony, a Class A misdemeanor. That case was dismissed in August of 2022, according to the Brewster County Clerk’s Office. The motion to dismiss stated that Whitley had “satisfactorily completed the pre-trial diversion program.”

Police said there had been a verbal confrontation between Gonzales, McGuire and Whitley before Gonzales had been struck by the vehicle.

District Attorney Ori White said an investigation had shown that McGuire had intentionally struck Gonzales with her vehicle — this past week, prosecutors were able to convince a jury that was the case.

“They did a very good job with the investigation — the entire Alpine office did a great job,” said White. “They were thorough, and they achieved a good result.”

An attorney for McGuire could not be reached for comment by press time.