{"id":134709,"date":"2026-01-23T05:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T05:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/134709\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T05:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T05:54:21","slug":"man-sentenced-to-15-years-for-role-in-el-paso-jailhouse-murder-of-fellow-inmate-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/134709\/","title":{"rendered":"Man sentenced to 15 years for role in El Paso jailhouse murder of fellow inmate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 A 25-year-old man was sentenced to over a decade in prison for his involvement in the killing of an inmate inside the El Paso County Jail Annex in 2023. <\/p>\n<p>According to the El Paso County District Attorney&#8217;s Office, on Jan. 15, George Lopez pleaded guilty to murder for his involvement in the killing of 57-year-old inmate Jesus Torres, who was reportedly beaten to death by several inmates inside a shared cell in November 2023.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mugshot of murdered inmate Jesus Torres (credit: EPCSO)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762710860_748_fcaea7ec-79b6-480f-a91e-956de2d49ec2-large16x9_MicrosoftTeamsimage.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mugshot of murdered inmate Jesus Torres (credit: EPCSO)<\/p>\n<p>The DA&#8217;s office stated that in his plea, Lopez admitted to conspiring with other inmates to attack Torres, acting as a &#8220;lookout&#8221; and helping clean the cell after the deadly attack. <\/p>\n<p>DA James Montoya declined to comment on the matter as the cases for the other four suspects are pending. <\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs4local.com\/news\/local\/sheriff-murder-at-el-paso-county-jail-annex-was-pre-planned-attack-jesus-torres-richard-wiles-texas?src=link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sheriff: Murder at El Paso County Jail Annex was &#8216;pre-planned attack&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In December of 2023, after the attack, the El Paso County Sheriff at the time, Richard Wiles, described the murder of Torres as a &#8220;pre-planned attack,&#8221; adding that it happened at around 7 p.m. during a shift change.<\/p>\n<p>So far, besides Lopez, 27-year-old Cristian Carrillo has also been convicted and sentenced for his involvement; he, too, pleaded guilty and, like Lopez, he also admitted he was a &#8220;lookout.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mugshot of Christian Carillo. (credit: EPCSO)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769120545_389_257a728b-fd4a-46dc-a81c-e7b4874aac5d-large16x9_Selectedphoto3.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mugshot of Christian Carillo. (credit: EPCSO)<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs4local.com\/news\/local\/el-paso-man-sentenced-to-10-years-for-acting-as-lookout-during-jailhouse-murder?src=link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">El Paso man sentenced to 10 years for acting as &#8216;lookout&#8217; during jailhouse murder<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The other inmates accused of the attack were identified as:<\/p>\n<p>31-year-old Manuel Alejandro Vargas18-year-old Juan Alberto Ortiz 38-year-old Jesus Adrian Rocha 29-year-old Jovani Dionicio Ramos<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"From left to right: mugshots of Manuel Alejandro Vargas, Juan Alberto Ortiz, Jesus Adrian Rocha and Jovani Dionicio Ramos.\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769120546_91_ca337b83-bffd-44a8-b36b-d8221b932b59-543436418.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>From left to right: mugshots of Manuel Alejandro Vargas, Juan Alberto Ortiz, Jesus Adrian Rocha and Jovani Dionicio Ramos.<\/p>\n<p>Following the murder, an administrative investigation by the El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office Internal Affairs Unit and a review by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards determined that inmate checks were not done properly and issued the jail annex a &#8220;non-compliance&#8221; notice in January 2024.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, disciplinary action against a jail employee was paused as they reportedly resigned that same month, just a few days before the administrative investigation was finished.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs4local.com\/news\/local\/el-paso-county-jail-issued-non-compliance-notice-due-to-incorrect-inmate-checks-jesus-torres-jail-annex-el-paso-texas?src=link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">El Paso County Jail issued non-compliance notice on inmate checks after inmate death<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"El Paso County Jail Annex. Credit: KFOX14\/CBS4\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769120546_826_4ec5a4cc-4ec9-4320-8dc5-c9e1d1506ac9-large16x9_thumb_53364.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>El Paso County Jail Annex. Credit: KFOX14\/CBS4<\/p>\n<p>Nearly a year after the murder, the family of Torres, the victim, filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence, saying that jail staff failed to protect the inmate who was awaiting trial.<\/p>\n<p>In the lawsuit, the family further claims the jail failed to conduct proper inmate check-ins, resulting in Torres being found 12 hours after he was allegedly killed.<\/p>\n<p>El Paso County tried to dismiss the lawsuit, but in December 2025, a judge allowed the lawsuit to move forward.<\/p>\n<p>Attorney Dean Malone, who is representing Torres&#8217; family in the lawsuit, called the murder \u201ca travesty and easily preventable\u201d and vowed to hold the county accountable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur law firm and Jesus\u2019 family are glad that the Court allowed the case to continue. What happened to Jesus is a travesty and easily preventable. After an extensive assault, Jesus\u2019 body lay in the cell for hours. We will continue to stand alongside his family to hold El Paso County accountable,&#8221; Malone said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"El Paso County Jail Annex. Credit: KFOX14\/CBS4\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769120546_209_a79a4030-ddd7-4971-9bb8-9f2e8b4dd1ea-large16x9_thumb_70728.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>El Paso County Jail Annex. Credit: KFOX14\/CBS4<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs4local.com\/news\/local\/judge-allows-lawsuit-over-el-paso-county-jail-death-to-proceed-denying-dismissal-request?src=link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Judge allows lawsuit over El Paso County jail death to proceed, denying dismissal request<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cbs4local.com\/sign-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sign up<\/a> to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 A 25-year-old man was sentenced to over a decade in prison for his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":{"0":"post-134709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-el-paso","9":"tag-el-paso-headlines","10":"tag-el-paso-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}