Christian Rodriguez was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office
A San Antonio man who prosecutors say stabbed his father 27 times in 2020 has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Christian Rodriguez was 25 when he was arrested and charged with murder in the death of his father, Jorge Rodriguez, 45.
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In June, he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as part of an agreement between defense attorney M’Liss Christian and Bexar County Assistant District Attorneys Ana Rocha and Zulema Patino.
Had Rodriguez been convicted of murder, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Rodriguez was sentenced Monday by state District Judge Joel Perez.
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Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies were called Sept. 28, 2020, to a home in the 25000 block of Whistling Acres in north Bexar County after a neighbor found the body of Jorge Rodriguez. The elder Rodriguez had sustained multiple stab wounds and had been dead for several hours, Sheriff Javier Salazar said at the time.
Christian Rodriguez barricaded himself in the house with a knife when deputies arrived. A mental health unit helped deputies negotiate with Rodriguez, and he eventually surrendered.
In court Monday, Rodriguez’s attorney said that Rodriguez had suffered for years with mental health issues and that the day of the stabbing, his father had come home from Mexico, where he had another family, and told him he wanted to sell the home.
“That was a triggering event,” Christian told the court. “The father and his girlfriend, other things; he finally snapped.”
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She asked that the court consider his application for deferred adjudication probation so he could continue to receive mental health counseling and treatment. “I do not believe he is a threat to others,” Christian told the court.
Rocha, however, told the court that although Rodriguez has mental health issues, he minimized his guilt and blamed external factors for his actions.
“He decided not to take his medications for about two years, he stabbed his father 27 times and left his body outside the house,” she said. “I am asking the court to protect the family, protect the community and send him to prison.”
Perez denied the application for deferred adjudication.
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“There’s just too much here,” the judge said. “He, by himself, decided not to take his medication. There’s a lot of deliberate conduct. He stabbed his father 27 times and talked about picking the strongest knife.”
Prosecutors had asked for a maximum of 40 years under the plea agreement. Perez sentenced Rodriguez to 30 years, and gave him credit for time already served since his 2020 arrest in the Bexar County jail.
Rodriguez will have to serve at least half of his prison term before he would become eligible for parole.
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