Video: All-Out Brawl Erupts in Court After Man Pleads Guilty to Murdering 16-Year-Old Girl
Family members of murdered teenage girl went after the ex-boyfriend who pleaded guilty to the murder in a courtroom Tuesday, and had to be restrained by bailiffs.
Frank DeLeon, 19, pleaded guilty to shooting 16-year-old Diamond Alvarez nearly two years ago, when he was her 17-year-old boyfriend, KRIV reported. He received a 45-year prison sentence as part of the plea agreement, and agreed not to appeal the verdict or sentence.
DeLeon shot Alvarez 22 times as she was walking her dog, prosecutors said, after arranging by text to meet with her because she had found out that he had been cheating on her, according to The Associated Press.
As Alvarez’s mother, Anna Machado, finished up a victim impact statement during the court hearing, she got up from the stand and walked toward DeLeon. A bailiff intercepted her and kept her from reaching the defendant, but the victim’s uncle then ran toward him and also had to be restrained.
At that point, DeLeon’s mother became involved, pushing and shoving Machado before being held down herself.
KRIV shared video of the altercation.
DeLeon had been scheduled to appear in court a day earlier, but his attorney claimed he had been in an accident on the way to the hearing.
The judge apparently didn’t much care for that excuse, since he revoked DeLeon’s bond and issued an arrest warrant for him. DeLeon turned himself in to authorities not long after the warrant was issued.
Machado called DeLeon a “monster” during her impact statement, and later applied the same word to her own behavior in the courtroom.
“That was wrong of me. That was wrong of us because we’re not monsters,” she said in a statement apologizing for the brawl.”
“But it’s so much hate, because I want my daughter back. And what he did was horrible. … I just want to move forward. Whatever happened, that was wrong of us, and I apologize for that. I apologize to the judge and I apologize to them.”
She also told reporters that she asked God to help her deal with her feelings for DeLeon.
“I pray to God that he’ll remove that anger from me one day,” she said, according to the AP.
“This is a heartbreaking domestic violence case of a young girl who was murdered by someone she dated,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement cited by the AP.
“Our office has devoted significant resources, including investigators, prosecutors and public service campaigns to raise awareness about the incredible danger of intimate partner violence to try to end horrible cases like this.”
DeLeon’s official sentencing hearing will be held Thursday. He’ll have to serve at least half of his 45-year sentence before he’ll be eligible for parole, multiple outlets reported.
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