nisearticles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nisearticles) wrote2005-09-08 12:25 pm
nisearticles) wrote2005-09-08 12:25 pm
[Cameron Herald] -- Contreras gets two life sentences
Contreras gets two life sentences
By Denise Schoppe
Special to The Herald
The Cameron Herald
September 08, 2005
A Hearne man, who plead guilty to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder of a Minerva family, was sentenced to two life sentences and 20 years in prison when the 20th District Court convened Tuesday.
District Judge Ed Magre accepted a plea agreement from Ben Contreras, 42, who was indicted on April 21 by a Milam County grand jury on capital murder, attempted murder and the alternative charge of two counts of first degree murder.
Contreras plead guilty to two counts of first degree murder and one count second-degree attempted murder. In addition to two life sentences and 20 years confinement with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he was ordered to pay a total of $27,250 in restitution.
The indictment and sentencing stems from a standoff with authorities at a Minerva residence in which Stephanie Young, Contreras' estranged girlfriend, was found beaten and stabbed to death. Young's mother, Gail Solomon, sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and arm, and Young's stepfather, Preston Solomon, died at Scott & White Hospital on March 9 from injuries sustained in an altercation with Contreras preceding the standoff.
"This has left big holes in my heart and in my family that can not be repaired or replaced," Gail Solomon said at the sentencing hearing.
Mr. Solomon was discovered by a motorist on County Loop 232 who called 911 at 6:48 p.m. on Feb. 1. According to law enforcement reports, he had been beaten with a three-pound sledgehammer.
While investigating what had happened to Mr. Solomon, the sheriff's department was alerted to a possible shooting in Minerva in which Contreras held Young and her three children, ages 2, 4, and 6, hostage in their family mobile home.
Gail Solomon sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and another in the arm while fleeing her home to escape Contreras.
Following an hour-long standoff with authorities, Milam County Sheriff Charles West and members of Contreras' family managed to talk him into surrendering. He was arrested, and authorities found Young's body in the mobile home. The children had been locked in a bathroom of the home and were not injured.
An investigation into the night's events revealed that Mr. Solomon was giving Contreras a ride to meet with family members when the first attack occurred. Contreras returned to the mobile home in Mr. Solomon's car. After an altercation with Contreras in which she was shot, Gail Solomon escaped to call authorities from another family member's mobile home and alert them of the situation.
She said she has been left trying to answer her grandchildren's questions about the whereabouts of their mother and grandfather. She said she and her family would attend any parole hearing held for Contreras to see to it he not be released.
Contreras was remanded to the Milam County Sheriff's Department following the sentencing.
By Denise Schoppe
Special to The Herald
The Cameron Herald
September 08, 2005
A Hearne man, who plead guilty to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder of a Minerva family, was sentenced to two life sentences and 20 years in prison when the 20th District Court convened Tuesday.
District Judge Ed Magre accepted a plea agreement from Ben Contreras, 42, who was indicted on April 21 by a Milam County grand jury on capital murder, attempted murder and the alternative charge of two counts of first degree murder.
Contreras plead guilty to two counts of first degree murder and one count second-degree attempted murder. In addition to two life sentences and 20 years confinement with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he was ordered to pay a total of $27,250 in restitution.
The indictment and sentencing stems from a standoff with authorities at a Minerva residence in which Stephanie Young, Contreras' estranged girlfriend, was found beaten and stabbed to death. Young's mother, Gail Solomon, sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and arm, and Young's stepfather, Preston Solomon, died at Scott & White Hospital on March 9 from injuries sustained in an altercation with Contreras preceding the standoff.
"This has left big holes in my heart and in my family that can not be repaired or replaced," Gail Solomon said at the sentencing hearing.
Mr. Solomon was discovered by a motorist on County Loop 232 who called 911 at 6:48 p.m. on Feb. 1. According to law enforcement reports, he had been beaten with a three-pound sledgehammer.
While investigating what had happened to Mr. Solomon, the sheriff's department was alerted to a possible shooting in Minerva in which Contreras held Young and her three children, ages 2, 4, and 6, hostage in their family mobile home.
Gail Solomon sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and another in the arm while fleeing her home to escape Contreras.
Following an hour-long standoff with authorities, Milam County Sheriff Charles West and members of Contreras' family managed to talk him into surrendering. He was arrested, and authorities found Young's body in the mobile home. The children had been locked in a bathroom of the home and were not injured.
An investigation into the night's events revealed that Mr. Solomon was giving Contreras a ride to meet with family members when the first attack occurred. Contreras returned to the mobile home in Mr. Solomon's car. After an altercation with Contreras in which she was shot, Gail Solomon escaped to call authorities from another family member's mobile home and alert them of the situation.
She said she has been left trying to answer her grandchildren's questions about the whereabouts of their mother and grandfather. She said she and her family would attend any parole hearing held for Contreras to see to it he not be released.
Contreras was remanded to the Milam County Sheriff's Department following the sentencing.