Man gets 90 years in NISD chief's death

WHARTON - The Wharton man who drunkenly caused the head-on collision that killed Needville ISD's Police Chief Ernest Mendoza last year was sentenced Monday to 90 years in prison by a Wharton County jury.

Guillermo Paniagua, 31, had been arrested four times previously on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated - but this time he faced a charge of what is called felony murder.

This charge is used when someone commits a felony that is dangerous and causes the death of another person, even if the individual never intended to kill them.

In Paniagua's case, prosecutors said his decision to drive drunk on the evening of Jan. 19, 2007, followed by his fleeing the scene of the accident, made him eligible for the charge. Whereas intoxicated manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, the felony murder charge carries the possibility of life in prison.

Mendoza had presided over NISD's police department for more than a decade and had been married for 21 years when Paniagua veered from his lane on a country road near Boling and crashed head-on into the police cruiser.

Among those speaking at the sentencing phase of Paniagua's trial was the victim's widow, Barbara “Susie” Mendoza. She explained to the jury that Mendoza's death left eight children without a father, and the family had been experiencing financial difficulties - not to mention emotional trauma - without him.

“His grandchildren will never know their grandfather. He has a wonderful legacy, but my family has been torn apart by the accident,” she said.

Paniagua has worked in construction since he was 17. He came to the U.S. illegally, prosecutors said, and had tried to gain legal status shortly before the deadly accident.

If he is ever released from prison, he would be deported to Mexico.

Paniagua's defense team tried to argue Mendoza was at least partly at fault, and his lead attorney told the jury that no sentence would bring Mendoza back or erase his family's pain. Paniagua never testified in the trial, but his older sister spoke on his behalf and said their entire family had prayed for the Mendoza family.

Wharton County District Attorney Josh McCown said he was very pleased with the verdict.

“People in this county are sick and tired of drunk drivers killing people,” he said.

Paniagua would be eligible for parole in 30 years.