Illegal immigrant sentenced to 15 years for killing roommate
The Salvadoran man was in town to lay cable for a Verizon contractor.
By Peter Dujardin | 757-247-4749
2:35 PM EDT, June 27, 2008


NEWPORT NEWS - An illegal immigrant from El Salvador will go to prison for 15 years for killing his roommate with a pick ax during an alcohol-fueled fight at a Newport News motel.

Anunciacion Turcios, 23, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder of Cecilio Leon Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, in the altercation at the Colonial Court Motel in June 2007.

Circuit Court Judge Timothy S. Fisher sentenced Turcios to prison for 40 years, with 15 years to serve and 25 years suspended.

After he serves his time, he is slated for deportation back to El Salvador. But in the event he's not deported, Fisher also ordered him to get five years of supervised probation and to maintain good behavior for life — or else some or all of the rest of his sentence could kick in.

Turcios and Hernandez worked together laying cable for a subcontractor to a contractor for Verizon Communications. In his booking papers, Turcios' employer was listed as "Verizon-lays cable." Verizon is replacing its old phone lines in Hampton Roads and nationwide with a fiber-optic system.

It was unclear what led to the altercation, which occurred at 3 a.m. in Room 318 of Colonial Court Motel, at 10451 Jefferson Ave., near Hemlock Road. According to a statement Turcios gave police, Hernandez had the upper hand in the fight, which took place after a day spent drinking alcohol.

"They were in a fistfight and ... (Turcios) said he could not withstand it any longer," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kimberly A. Kurkjian said at the April hearing during which Turcios pleaded guilty. So Turcios left the hotel room, got the pick-ax from his trunk and struck Hernandez with it.

Hernandez had 14 penetrating or chopping injuries from the pick-ax to his chest, abdomen, back and other places, Kurkjian said.

Turcios was originally charged with first-degree murder — with the "willful and deliberate" requirement for that charge indicated by his going to his car to get the pick-ax, prosecutors said.

Turcios' guilty plea came as part of an agreement with the Commonwealth's Attorney's office in which the charge was reduced from first- to second-degree murder. That came in part because several witnesses were illegal immigrants and might have been difficult for the prosecution to track down.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum term of 40 years in prison.
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