Jesus Bocanegra, 39, of Lubbock was sentenced on Thursday to 35 years in prison for aggravated assault, domestic violence.
Bocanegra was arrested and charged a few days after a September 3, 2017 incident.
The following is a Press release from Lubbock County Office of the Criminal District Attorney:
On November 15th, Jesus Bocanegra was sentenced to 35 years in prison for charge of Aggravated Assault –Domestic Violence by District Judge Trey McClendon in the 137th District Court after being found guilty by a Lubbock County jury.
This was a case of domestic violence between the defendant and his girlfriend. The defendant sexually assaulted her and she tried to leave. When he found her, he punched her in the face repeatedly, strangled her until she passed out, bit a chunk of flesh from her chin, and prevented her from leaving the house by threatening her with a box cutter.
She eventually attempted to run out of the house to the neighbors, at which point he tackled her, got on top of her, told her he was going to kill her and that he would mess her up face up so that no man would ever love her again. He then began slashing her face and arms with the box cutter. The most significant damage was to her left eye, which sustained a severe vertical laceration.
LPD and EMS responded to the scene and she was transported to UMC. After emergency surgery, she was informed she would never regain vision in her eye. The eye was subsequently removed and she is currently awaiting a prosthetic. The defendant fled the scene of the crime and was arrested by LPD officers a week later. He offered a variety of explanations for his actions including that it had been an accident, he had acted in self-defense and that she had inflicted the injuries on herself.
This case was investigated by the Lubbock Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Chris Shulte and Cassie Nesbitt with Investigator Garland Timms.
“The actions of this defendant were horrific, inexcusable, and will not be tolerated in Lubbock County. We are happy that the jury agreed and that we were able to get justice for our victim”. -Chris Shulte & Cassie Nesbitt, Assistant District Attorneys.
(Press release from Lubbock County Office of the Criminal District Attorney)