A teen facing two separate murder charges was sentenced to 50 years in prison inside a contentious Bexar County courtroom on Thursday morning.
Rene Gonzales, 18, pled no contest for 2022 and 2023 murder charges and took a plea deal. Regardless, Judge Joel Perez, who presides over Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court, found Gonzales guilty of both murders.
Both 50-year prison sentences will be served concurrently.
Tensions were high on both sides of the courtroom.
A male, who was on the victims’ families’ side of the courtroom, began flashing signs with his hands. Additional Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies were subsequently called into the courtroom for security purposes.
Watch Gonzales’ full Thursday morning court appearance below. Some language in the video may not be suitable for all audiences.
‘Not only one life, but two’
Representatives from both victims’ families presented victim impact statements in court. The first statement was made via Zoom.
The relative said that they were “thankful” Gonzales was sentenced to 50 years in prison and hopes “that this murderer (Gonzales) will realize” the power of his sentence.
Additional family members were present in court for their statements.
“I just want to say that you ended a man’s life, my brother-in-law. You left my sister without a husband, and my nieces without a father,” a woman, who did not identify herself, said in court. “And I think you deserve more, but what you got is what you deserve. I just hope that one day you’ll find it in your heart to know what you did to them. Not only one life, but two. Two murders. And I hope you do go to hell.”
Another unidentified female began giving her statement to Gonzales, but she broke down and could not speak. A Bexar County prosecutor read the statement on her behalf.
“I know this most likely doesn’t matter, but all I have to ask is: ‘Why?’ Now, you will sit in that cell, and every day while you sit there, I will feel the weight of what your choices did to us,” the statement read. “You didn’t just hurt one person. You ripped through our entire family like nothing, leaving memories that feel heavier than anything we have ever asked to care. Instead, you have left us with silence, confusion and a home that will never feel whole again.”
A woman, who identified herself as the wife of one victim, then spoke directly to Gonzales.
“No words could ever explain all the pain and the sadness that this has caused the past two-and-a-half years. My husband was a great man, a great father and a great friend, who would take the shirt off his back for you. And you know that,” the woman said. “Seventeen years of marriage was stolen from me. In less than five minutes, his life was over.”
While Gonzales was escorted out by deputies, the male, who flashed signs on the victims’ side earlier, yelled an obscenity at Gonzales before a person sitting next to him put her hand over his mouth.
As deputies escorted the victims’ relatives, people on Gonzales’ side of the courtroom began yelling obscenities, as well.
Watch the victims’ impact statements below. Some language in the video may not be suitable for all audiences.
Background
Back in October 2022, Gonzales was accused of taking part in a drive-by shooting that mistakenly targeted the wrong house. At the time of the shooting, he was 14.
Novita Brazil, 25, who was studying inside her home on Bald Mountain Drive in west Bexar County, was killed.
While out on bond for that case, Bexar County prosecutors said Gonzales allegedly cut his GPS monitor in the summer of 2023. While Gonzales’ location was not being tracked by the GPS monitor, the state said Gonzales committed a second murder in fall 2023.
In the second murder, Gonzales, who was 15 at the time, was accused of fatally shooting a 54-year-old man who tried to break up a fight between teenagers.
The second victim, Gabriel Campos Gonzales, was struck multiple times and later died at a local hospital.
More coverage of this story on KSAT:
- Judge rules 16-year-old will be tried as an adult in both murder cases
- 16-year-old boy charged in murder case faces second murder charge in separate case
- Man was intervening in teens’ fight when he was shot, killed, police say
- Neighbors scared, in shock after innocent woman killed in west Bexar County drive-by shooting
