A 29-year-old Houston man, Irbin Vargas, has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for the 2018 murder of his 16-year-old girlfriend, Lourdes Sandoval. Vargas was found guilty of fatally shooting Sandoval outside her Greenspoint-area home after she ended their year-long relationship.
On September 12, 2018, Sandoval told Vargas via text that she no longer wanted to have any contact with him. Minutes later, as she left her home to meet a friend waiting in a car, Vargas emerged from the shadows and shot her in the head.
The friend witnessed the attack and later testified. Vargas fled the scene but was arrested by Houston police shortly after.
Friends and family of Sandoval revealed that Vargas, who was 22 at the time of the murder, had a history of threatening her, including holding a gun to her head. Prosecutors described him as a “predator” who groomed the teenage girl and killed her in a fit of rage when she tried to leave him.
After a five-day trial, Vargas was convicted of murder and opted to have his sentence decided by a judge. He will be required to serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg expressed her condolences to Sandoval’s family, emphasizing the tragedy of such a young life lost to domestic violence. “No one should ever lose their life to domestic violence,” Ogg said.
Assistant District Attorneys Philip White and Matthew Magill, who prosecuted the case, condemned Vargas’s actions as calculated and predatory.
This sentencing serves as a grim reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence, especially when young victims are targeted.
