The man will have to serve 90% of his 40 year sentence before he’s eligible for parole.
SAN ANTONIO — A man convicted in the murders of two 19-year-olds found shot to death inside a northeast-side motel more than three years ago was sentenced to 40 years Wednesday.
Kristian Belmudez was arrested and charged in March 2023 in the killings of Gabriel Sanchez and his girlfriend, Sanaa McNeil. The couple was found dead inside a motel room in January of that year.
RELATED: Man arrested, accused of murder of two teens who were found dead in a motel in January, SAPD says
Court records show Belmudez was initially released after prosecutors dropped the charges, citing insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. San Antonio police later re-arrested him after gathering additional evidence.
According to investigators, Belmudez admitted he was the man seen on surveillance video with the couple at a gas station the night they were killed but said he could not remember what happened before or after their bodies were discovered.
Court documents state that surveillance footage shows a man entering the motel room with Sanchez and McNeil around 2:30 a.m. on January 16. About an hour later, the same man is seen leaving alone, carrying a gun in each hand.
The mother of one of the victims, Jassidy Sanchez, said she has waited years for this moment in court and still struggles to understand why her son and his girlfriend were killed.
“That was pretty much the evidence. That’s all they needed,” Sanchez said. “That’s what the detective told me — if that’s him there, then that makes him our killer. And hopefully they keep him in there. I do hope that Kristian does come to his senses.”
Sanchez said she walked into a nightmare having to identify Gabe and Sanaa. She also shared that Belmudez and her son were friends leading up to the killings.
Both families wrote a victim impact statement to Belmudez and say they are still recovering from a wound that will never heal.
Belmudez will have to serve 90% of his 40 year sentence before he’s eligible for parole.