FORT STOCKTON — An Alpine woman facing almost 36 more years in prison for a murder conviction received the news she had hoped for on Monday — a successful new sentencing trial with a jury verdict resetting her term to two years, which could be about 10 months factoring in time already served.
The second trial, held in Fort Stockton from last Tuesday to Monday before 83rd District Judge Robert Cardena, was not to decide whether Lisette McGuire of Marathon was guilty of first degree murder for running over her on-again, off-again boyfriend — Aquiles Armendariz Gonzales of Alpine — in 2018, since a jury had already found her guilty of first degree murder on June 20, 2023.
District Judge Roy Ferguson, who presided over the 2023 proceedings, ruled a second sentencing trial could be held to address whether the jury had adequate instructions when giving McGuire her 37-year prison term.
Putting the legal distinctions aside, the sentencing trial took on the life of a new trial, with many of the same witnesses and a reexamination of forensics and phone records — all put before a brand new jury. Even though the jury was to only decide if a new sentence was needed, many family and friends of Gonzales and McGuire both viewed it as another look at whether this was really murder or just a tragic accident.
“It was very clear this was not a murder,” said Shane O’Neal, defense counsel for McGuire, along with Julia Balovich, both based in Alpine. “Don’t turn one tragedy into two,” he told the jury in his closing statement, pleading for a reduced sentence.
The prosecutor, Assistant 83rd District Attorney Bill Parham, warned the jury not to be fooled by the “character” McGuire wanted to portray in her testimony, a victim of supposed abuse who became a model citizen in the five years she lived before facing trial. “This is not a case about sympathy,” he said. “This is about a cold-blooded murderer.”
“It’s devastating,” said Annalisa Higgins, Gonzales’ sister, reacting to the two-year sentence. “I do feel the justice system failed us. Drug dealers get longer sentences than this, and she murdered someone.”
Tears were shed among Gonzales’ family and friends seated on one side of the courtroom — even before the verdict — while the other side included family and friends of McGuire.
“All we wanted was a fair trial,” said Joel McGuire, Lisette McGuire’s uncle after the verdict. “I don’t see how you get to first degree murder when there is no premeditation.”
The jury deliberated about three hours Monday evening before announcing its verdict of the reduced sentence.
On April 29, 2018, a Brewster County deputy pulled McGuire over on the highway, where she was charged with a DUI and taken to Alpine for questioning and ultimately charged with first degree murder.
In the trial last week, police and prosecutors contended McGuire purposely ran over Gonzalez, an Alpine resident, then 37, with her SUV on April 29, 2018, after a late-night heated argument involving their relationship and custody of their son. Much of the trial last week included conflicting testimony from defense and prosecution on whether McGuire fled the scene knowing she had run over Gonzales or if she left in a state of fear and panic without even realizing she hit him.
The defense intended to prove that McGuire ran over Gonzales “under immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause,” which could have reduced her sentence to 2 to 20 years during her first trial. The prosecution wanted to prove that her mental state was not a factor, the murder was intentional, and that McGuire should receive 5 to life in prison. Prosecutor Bill Parham wanted 60 years.
Looking at the possibility of an even longer prison term, the trial was a gamble for McGuire, but O’Neal said they were confident they could win.
The ride to Alpine
Testimony revealed one crux of the case was why McGuire, living in Marathon, drove to see Gonzales in the early morning hours that April night in 2018. Why she wanted to see him was contentious in the courtroom, with McGuire and her defense saying Gonzales was getting kicked out of his house by the woman he was living with and had nowhere else to go.
Although McGuire and Gonzales were formerly lovers, it wasn’t clear if they were still romantically involved, and McGuire had a husband, Adam Molina, back in Marathon. The prosecution presented a witness who contended that Molina had been intent on heading to Alpine to possibly confront or fight Gonzales over custody issues involving the young son he had with McGuire.
McGuire told the court and police that despite Gonzales being abusive in the past ––– and her being married to another man –– Gonzales was still the father of their son, and she wanted to be there to help him. The defense presented text messages between the two that showed a friendly exchange that day and into the evening with later messages indicating that McGuire was on her way to Alpine. She was accompanied by Jon Jay Whitley, then 48 and a long-time Marathon resident. O’Neal questioned why her husband, Molina, wasn’t in the car with them if, as prosecutors contended, he intended to confront Gonzales that night.
Phone records show Gonzales then called McGuire for about five minutes, which McGuire said was partly to get directions to Gonzales’ house. Whitley, in the passenger seat, testified later that he could not hear exactly what the conversation was about. If McGuire and Gonzales were fighting on the phone call, O’Neal insisted that would have been apparent to Whitley.
From calm to the storm
Thanks to conflicting statements, it’s difficult to prove how a calm set of conversations that night left Gonzales dead in front of his home.
McGuire told police and testified in court that Gonzales was outside when she arrived, and he immediately shoved her and screamed at her. “I don’t know if he thought my friend was my husband … he became very violent,” she said to the police. She also testified that Gonzales head butted her.
On the stand Monday morning, Whitley told the court Monday that McGuire actually pushed Gonzales first, but he also described how Gonzales headbutted him and broke his glasses. He eventually went back to sit in McGuire’s car in the passenger seat.
What happens next is a blur of conflicting testimony and physical evidence. The defense recounted McGuire’s statements to police that Gonzales suddenly ran to her car to get to Whitley. McGuire said Gonzales grabbed her by the neck in an attempt to stop her and began slamming her head against the passenger side car window — an account backed up by a neighbor who was watching the ordeal.
But the prosecution said McGuire was the aggressor and at one point followed Gonzales into his home before both returned outside. Whitley said she told them, “I’m not done arguing yet,” after Whitley and the neighbor tried to get her to leave.
McGuire did need medical attention the night of her arrest, and Big Bend Regional Medical Center records presented in court showed she had a fractured nose, and photos showed marks around her neck. The prosecution countered that those records also showed McGuire telling a doctor she couldn’t clasp her hand because she had hit Gonzales in the head.
Testimony made it clear that McGuire, Whitley and Gonzales had all been drinking heavily. A toxicology report showed Gonzales at a .23 blood alcohol content, almost three times the legal limit of .08 to drive lawfully. It’s unclear when McGuire’s blood was tested, but at least a couple hours after her detainment it was about .08. Whitley admitted to being extremely drunk, which led him to not remember many of his interactions and interviews with police the night of Gonzales’ death.
The jury also considered the defense’s allegations of physical abuse by Gonzales against McGuire starting in 2014 –– allegations backed up by an email she had shared with a relative. (The prosecution said there was no physical or photographic evidence to prove that abuse.)
O’Neal, in closing arguments, said that on the night of Gonzales’ death, McGuire being choked and deprived of oxygen and violently attacked resulted in her jumping in the car and trying to flee the scene — what he said was a clear case of being “under immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause.” The prosecution countered that that statute cannot be used for someone provoking the situation that results in the adequate cause, which they contend McGuire — who they believe was the true aggressor — did.
The prosecution brought in a surprise final witness brought in on the last day of the trial — Whitley, who also was at the scene of the murder. Whitley testified Monday morning something he had never told prosecutors or the defense before: that while leaving Gonzales’ home after he had been run over, McGuire told him, “I hope he’s dead.”
Two drive-by shootings earlier that year that suggest mounting tensions also earned a mention at the trial. On February 1, 2018, McGuire’s husband Adam Molina and Whitley allegedly shot into cars parked outside of Gonzales’ house. A week later, McGuire, Molina and Whitley also shot at cars in front of the home on February 8. About a year after Gonzales’ death, Alpine police charged Molina and Whitley with deadly conduct for the latter shootings. (It’s unclear what charges were filed against McGuire and if any are still pending.)
The district attorney’s office — under former DA Sandy Wilson — offered Whitley immunity against any charges if he testified in McGuire’s murder trial. But Parham revoked that immunity, leaving Whitley with the deadly conduct charges over his head. Parham decided on Sunday, before the final day of the trial, to put him on the stand, where he recounted events that seemed to both support and contradict the defense assertions.
Defender O’Neal made it clear in closing arguments that Whitley only offered his damning quote –– “I hope he’s dead” –– for the first time under threat of prosecution. “He will say just about anything they want,” O’Neal told the jury. “They are playing games with his immunity.”