MIDLAND COUNTY, Texas — In the 142nd District Court, July 2, a Midland County jury delivered a guilty verdict against Angel Luis Lebron-Rivera, 46, for Capital Murder in regard to the 2015 case of two teens whose bodies were found in Midland County.
In this case, the death penalty can be imposed. The trial, which commenced on April 2, 2024, spanned most of April, May, and June.
The Midland County District Attorney's Office said that cases involving the State’s pursuit of the death penalty requires a specialized jury selection process, typically taking considerably longer than the evidence trial.
On June 25, 2024, the jury began to be presented with evidence. Following five hours and 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned the guilty verdict and adjourned for the evening.
The same jury will now consider additional evidence to determine whether Lebron-Rivera should face the death penalty or receive life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The District Attorney's Office added that the evidence presented in the case showed that two teens, Ashley Cruz-Rodriguez, 18, and John Iglesia-Alvarez, 19, came to Midland from Puerto Rico in 2015 to stay with Lebron-Rivera and his girlfriend. After only a few months, in October of 2015, both Cruz-Rodriguez and Iglesia-Alvarez were reported missing after losing contact with relatives.
Cruz-Rodriguez and Iglesia-Alvarez's remained missing until early 2018, when information received by the Midland County Sherrif’s Office brought investigators to a farm on County Road 1200 where Lebron-Rivera had previously worked.
Extensive searches at the farm in late January and early February of 2018 eventually led to the discovery of skeletal remains of both teenagers, whose identities were confirmed through DNA. Through the testimony of experts in firearms, pathology, forensic anthropology, DNA analysis, and the testimony of the Midland County Sheriff’s Department and other witnesses, it was shown that the defendant had shot both victims execution-style and disposed of their bodies in large pits on the property that were intended for landscaping waste and trash.
Lebron-Rivera was apprehended in the Dominican Republic and was extradited back to Midland County in late 2018 and has been in custody since then awaiting trial.
NewsWest 9 will continue to update this article as we learn more.