The final member of a Texas quartet was jailed earlier this week for his involvement in a fraudulent social media catfish killing.
Cyle Flores, 18, pleaded guilty to one count of murder on Thursday and received a 25-year state prison sentence.
In 2021, Flores and three of his buddies, Jeremiah Marquez, 18, Justin Angel Hernandez, 22, and Edgar Alfonso Castillo, 17, used Facebook Messenger to lure Israel Martinez, 22, to a home on Gurley Avenue in Waco, where he was robbed, shot repeatedly, and killed.
The fourth member of the group eventually followed in the footsteps of his confederates, accepting a plea agreement from the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office rather than going to trial.
Initially, all defendants were charged with capital murder. Prosecutors accepted reduced murder pleas one by one, and the defendants obtained terms that included parole eligibility.
“The three juveniles in this case were certified as adults,” McLennan County Assistant District Attorneys Kristi DeCluitt and Rebeckah Lawson stated in a joint statement sent to Waco-based CBS and Telemundo station KWTX. “They, together with one adult defendant, engaged in a sophisticated social media scheme to entice the victim to rob him and, ultimately, kill him. Such violence will not be accepted in our community, and we will continue to pursue justice for the victims.”
The underlying incident occurred on September 19, 2021, when Martinez was enticed to the apartment under the guise of being summoned by a woman named “Kaelani Moore.”
While the Facebook Messenger account was associated with that name and a photo of the alleged user, the victim was not chatting with a woman at all. According to the Waco Police Department, he was actually catfished by Hernandez and the three teenagers.
Detectives traced the discussion back to Hernandez’s personal account, according to an arrest warrant document obtained by KWTX. During the communication, Hernandez, posing as Moore, instructed Martinez to pay money to a user named “Kaelani M.” on a different app.
According to investigators, the email address used to create the bogus Moore profile disclosed Hernandez’s subscriber information. Detectives stated that the Moore account was used to “set up the murder victim.”
According to investigators, one of the catfishing communications directed Martinez to seek for a vehicle parked in front of the house.
According to authorities, the victim arrived at the requested time and was standing outside when he was shot multiple times by numerous firearms, as evidenced by shell casings found at the scene. The shots were fired from the house itself; the defendants had broken in through a back window. Witnesses reported seeing many people flee as the last report of gunshots resonated down the residential street.
Authorities say the bogus account was deactivated following the incident.
Law enforcement believes Hernandez and Marquez were the triggermen that night, but all four suspects faced the same counts.
While the three younger participants in the conspiracy were never eligible for the death penalty since they were minors at the time, Hernandez could have been executed if the plea deal had not been reached.
Finally, the 54th State District Court condemned Hernandez and Marquez to 35 years in jail, while Castillo to 30 years. Flores received a comparatively lenient sentence. Each of the men must complete at least half of their sentences before being eligible for parole.
“Each conviction in this case highlights gun violence will not be tolerated in our community, and our office will continue to target those who do harm, regardless of their age,” according to the attorneys.
