Jose Angel Simental, 21, pleaded guilty Friday to tampering with evidence related to the murder case of Mark Anthony Ysasaga.
A photojournalist in the courtroom was trying to get answers to see if the tampering charge would replace the murder charge. It not was clear in the proceedings if that’s how the case would proceed.
Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell refused to provide a our photojournalist with an update on the status of the murder charge.
The tampering charge was filed Thursday and Simental waived the right to have a grand jury examine his case. The recommended bond on the tampering charge was $1 million. The new tampering charge listed a prior cause number which leads back to the murder charge.
Simental was transferred from the Clemons Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to the Lubbock County Detention Center in May of 2015 when he was charged with murder.
Simental was not yet sentenced. The deal calls for 2 to 10 years in prison but official sentencing will be later.
Ysasaga was 15 when he disappeared in 2012. He was listed as a missing person until Simental was charged with murder which happened even before Ysasaga’s body was found in June 2015 in a remote area near 122nd Street and U.S. Highway 87.
Court records in the Simental case said Ysasaga was in the home where Simental lived in the 3100 block of 27th Street. An initial police search of the house turned up nothing. But in 2015 police decided to pull up the flooring with a search warrant. Investigators found enough blood to believe Ysasaga was murdered.
Also in June 2015, police publicly named Christian Castro as a person of interest. The very next day Ysasga’s body was found and Castro was free and clear on all charges including an unrelated aggravated robbery in early June 2015. Castro had been Simental’s roommate at the time of Ysasaga’s disappearance.
Local media outlets including EverythingLubbock.com investigated after Crime Line money was paid. It was later discovered that Castro was indeed the person who was paid the money.
