Teen sentenced for 'heinous' murder of 63-year-old neighbor

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Brownsville teenager will spend half a century behind bars for the brutal murder of his 63-year-old neighbor.

_{George Neftaly Rodriguez (Cameron County District Attorney's Office)}

George Neftaly Rodriguez, 19, was facing a charge of capital murder in connection to the killing of Maria Teresa Esparza. In March, Rodriguez entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of first-degree murder.

On Monday, Rodriguez was sentenced to 50 years in state prison.

An indictment states that on Dec. 14, 2020, when Rodriguez was 16 years old, he killed Esparza after hitting her in the head with a glass candle and stabbing her with a knife multiple times while attempting to rob her.

The Cameron County District Attorney's Office called the crime "very heinous, shocking and extremely alarming."

"The defendant was only 16 years old when he brutally murdered his 63-year-old neighbor who was very nice to him. It was very alarming because of his young age," a news release from the DA's office stated.

The release added that the majority of murder cases over the last 18 months have featured defendant's with an average age of 21 years old.