Left: Irban Vargas. Right: Lourdes “Betty” Sandoval (Harris County District Attorney’s Office).
A Texas judge sentenced a 29-year-old man to 75 years in prison for murdering a 16-year-old girl who told him off in a series of Facebook messages just minutes earlier, prosecutors say.
Irbin Vargas, 29, was convicted of murder for killing 16-year-old Lourdes Sandoval, who was known to friends as “Betty,” on Sept. 12, 2018, in Houston. Prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office say Vargas, who was 22 at the time, and Betty had been in a relationship for about a year. But Betty wanted to end the relationship after Vargas allegedly put a gun to her head.
Around 10 on the night in question, Vargas and the girl had a conversation on Facebook, a criminal complaint said.
Vargas: I thought you were going to be with me earlier
Betty: Lol when. When you were about to shoot me?
Vargas: Yes when I had the gun to your head, that’s why I put it down cuz I thought you meant it
Betty: Next time you point a gun at me, make sure you kill me cause I’m never talking to you again
Vargas: Damn bro
A few minutes later, Vargas apparently sent the girl a picture with him holding a gun to his head with the caption, “Life ain’t worth living without you.” Betty sent the messages and picture to a friend and said she was scared. She then walked outside to meet a friend. Vargas emerged from the shadows, grabbed the girl by the shoulder and shot her in the face, according to prosecutors.
Vargas ran away, but Houston police officers later arrested him. A judge convicted him last month after a five-day bench trial. He will not be eligible for parole until he’s served 30 years.
“He was a 22-year-old predator who worked to get close to a teenage girl,” Assistant District Attorney Philip White, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement. “Five minutes after she told him that it was over for good, he killed her.”
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg added: “No one should ever lose their life to domestic violence, and this case is especially tragic because this woman was so young and had so much to live for — we mourn her loss with her family.”
