Kristian Ray Belmudez was released from prison exactly three months after he was taken into custody.
SAN ANTONIO — A murder suspect has been released from jail and a San Antonio family is frustrated after Bexar County dismissed charges against the man previously arrested in connection with a January double-murder investigation.
Kristian Ray Belmudez, 19, was arrested in March after police charged him with killing Gabriel Sanchez and his girlfriend, Sanaa McNeil, earlier this year. The bodies of the victims, also both 19 years old, were found in a northeast-side motel room in January. They died from gunshot wounds.
This week, however, their families were denied closure when the Bexar County district attorney’s office dropped the murder charges against Belmudez, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute him.
“Our office must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a Bexar County jury that a defendant has committed the crime of which he or she is accused,” the DA’s office said in a statement. “That is the law. In this instance, a full review of all the evidence currently available to our office showed that the evidence necessary… was incomplete.”
Jassidy Sanchez, Gabriel’s mother, who has been fighting for justice since his murder – even collecting potential leads through a newly formed Facebook page – says she learned about the dropped charges and Belmudez’s release from a family friend.
“My heart dropped,” said Sanchez. “I thought, ‘Why, God?’ I am appalled by the decision, by the whole justice system. I have to go visit my son at his burial spot when this kid is getting released, are you kidding me?”
Sanchez, contrary to District Attorney Joe Gonzales’s team, said she believes there’s more than enough evidence to take the case to trial.
“When I looked it up (on the Bexar County website), it said ‘Case Closed,'” she said. “Are you serious? This case is never closed for our families. We all deserve an explanation.”
A trial could still happen, but the DA’s office says it has “asked for additional information and investigation” that must be gathered first.
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