LUBBOCK, Texas — A jury sentenced Carlos Rodriquez to life in prison Thursday for the 2013 murder of 18-year-old Zoe Campos. He will be eligible for parole after 30 years.
The jury began deliberations at 4:10 p.m. and returned a verdict at 4:30 p.m.
Rodriquez pleaded guilty to Zoe’s murder on Monday, on the first day of the trial. The jury had already been selected and oversaw the sentencing phase.
Zoe disappeared on November 17, 2013. She was classified as a missing person for five years, until November 2018, when a body was found in the backyard of a home Rodriquez previously lived at.
In his testimony, the lead investigator until 2015 said he was unhappy with the way things were handled in the early days of the case.
He said Zoe’s car should have been taken in for processing after it had been found by a family member at an apartment complex three days after she disappeared.
The family member that found the car testified that it took around three hours for police to arrive on the scene after it was reported.
Several people testified during the sentencing trial, including family members of Zoe.
On Tuesday, Zoe’s mother Melinda Campos testified. She said when police found Zoe’s body in 2018, it did not bring closure.
“Because he’s still breathing, and she is not,” she said. “She was a beautiful girl, she loved life. She loved her family.”
Zoe’s older sister also testified.
“That was my best friend,” she said. “That was all I had when I needed somebody.”
She also said her family always had hope that Zoe would come home, and that they would still be looking for her if her body had not been found in 2018.
When her body was found, her sister said she was angry.
“How could you keep living your life when you did something like that,” she said, “and you just went on not caring?”
