A Texas teen accused of killing his girlfriend, then sending photos of her body to friends, was ordered to serve life in prison, officials said.
Jesus Campos Jr., 18, was sentenced Wednesday in the murder of his 15-year-old girlfriend, Karen Perez, whose body was found under a sink in an abandoned Houston complex, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Prosecutors at the capital murder trial alleged that Campos texted Perez in May 2016, instructing her to skip class and meet him at a tennis court. The then-15-year-old boy threatened Perez that he would kill her if she disobeyed, authorities said.
Surveillance footage from a nearby taco restaurant showed the pair holding hands heading to the apartment complex, where the defendant allegedly raped and strangled his girlfriend, news station KTRK reported.
Investigators discovered videos on Campos’ cellphone that showed the teen girl’s final moments. Perez could be he heard pleading with her boyfriend not to kill her.
“I don’t want want to die, Jesus,” Perez said.
Campos allegedly then sent graphic images of his girlfriend’s lifeless body from his phone, prosecutors said.
Her body was discovered after another teen reported to authorities that he last saw her alive at the abandoned apartment complex.
“I’ve tried several capital murder cases,” Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Meriwether said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “But the recording of Karen being raped, and pleading for her life before she was so viciously murdered, will stay with me for the rest of my life.”