Jury votes against death penalty in Lebron-Rivera trial, convicted Capital Murderer gets life without parole

MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf announced that a Midland jury decided late Thursday afternoon that Angel Luis Lebron-Rivera will not receive the death penalty after his Capital Murder trial.

46-year-old Angel Luis Lebron-Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico, was found guilty of Capital Murder by a Jury trial on July 3rd after the initial trial began in early April, with the jury selection process consuming most of April, May, and June.

Lebron-Rivera was convicted of Capital Murder for killing two teenagers in 2015 and burying their bodies on a tree farm in Midland County but was not charged with the crime until 2018- when their bodies were discovered by MSCO, which resulted in his capture in the Dominican Republic and extradition back to Midland.

The trial was held in the 142 ^nd District Court and presided over by Judge David G. Roger with the same jury that found Lebron-Rivera guilty. The jury then heard additional evidence from several witnesses for nearly two weeks to determine what his punishment should be.

Laura Nodolf stated that after 5 and a half hours of deliberations, the jury gave the verdict late Thursday afternoon on July 18, to Judge David G. Rogers, ultimately sentencing Lebron-Rivera to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The process by which the jury decides the punishment in a death penalty case requires a jury to answer two questions based on the evidence.

First, whether it is likely the defendant will commit acts of criminal violence that constitute a continuing threat to society, and then whether there is any evidence, known as “mitigation,” which causes the jury to believe the defendant should receive a life sentence instead of the death penalty.

The jury gave their verdict by answering “no” to the first question, which meant they did not have to answer the second question- which by law, resulted in Lebron-Rivera having the mandatory sentence of prison for the rest of his natural life without the possibility of being considered for parole.

The case was prosecuted by Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf, 1st Assistant District Attorney Tim Flathers, and Felony Trial Team Chief Kyle McCardle and Lebron-Rivera was represented by the office of the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases based in Lubbock.

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