Second man sentenced in point-blank fatal shooting of 2 in University Place
A man convicted for the deaths of two men shot in the front seat of a car in University Place has been sentenced in Pierce County Superior Court.
Alex Lopez Leon, 24, was sentenced to 44 years, six months in prison for the 2018 killings. He was convicted in September of first-degree murder and second-degree murder for the deaths of 22-year-old Wilberth Lopez Alcala and 19-year-old Adrian Valencia Cuevas.
Prosecutors had requested a mid-range sentence of 48 years, seven months in prison, citing the “depraved,” way Alcala was killed and the “cold and egregious” nature of the defendant’s behavior.
The case revolved around four men who left a barbecue in Tacoma to go on a drive in a white Dodge Charger on May 14, 2018. Alcala was driving in the front seat with Cuevas in the passenger seat. Behind them sat Lopez Leon and Javier Valenzuela Felix, both of whom were charged with killing the men in front of them.
Javier Valenzuela Felix was sentenced in 2019 to 30 years, six months in prison.
Lopez Leon continues to maintain his innocence, claiming Valenzuela Felix was the one who killed the men, defense attorneys wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
“He is truly sorry that he was not able to stop the killings from occurring and is sorry that the families are suffering such great pain,” defense attorneys wrote.
In the state’s trial brief, prosecuting attorneys wrote that bullet trajectories determined by the medical examiner supported the finding that there were two shooters, not just one. Text messages sent between the two men after the killings show that their relationship continued beyond the night of the shootings, and that they trusted one another.
“After the homicides, Lopez Leon repeatedly reached out to Valenzuela Felix, telling Valenzuela Felix that he was no longer ‘in the neighborhood’ and that ‘everything is going to be okay dude,’” according to court records.
In the state’s sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said Cuevas was shot in the back of the head shortly after the men left the barbecue. Then, Lopez Leon and Valenzuela Felix ordered Alcala to keep driving while they found a place to dump the other man’s body.
Prosecutors originally identified Cuevas as the man driving the car, according to the supplemental declaration for determination of probable cause filed in November 2018. That was corrected in the state’s trial brief, which states Cuevas was the passenger and was shot first.
Alcala spent at least 17 minutes driving the car with Cuevas’ body beside him to an address in University Place. Once they arrived, he was also shot in the back of the head, prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
According to the memorandum, Cuevas’ mother testified she searched for her son after he was murdered, not knowing he was already dead. She talked to Lopez Leon, and he denied knowing anything about Cuevas’ disappearance.
When Cuevas’ mother learned her son was dead, prosecutors wrote, Lopez Leon accompanied her to the crime scene. It wasn’t until police showed Cuevas’ mother video footage of Lopez Leon and Valenzuela Felix walking away from the crime scene that Lopez Leon’s involvement was revealed to her.
When she saw the footage, prosecutors wrote in the trial brief, “she became emotional, crying and covering her face with her hands as she exclaimed, ‘That’s Alex! That’s Alex!’”
Lopez Leon’s motive in the killings is unclear. Prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memorandum that they believe it was tied to drugs and money, citing text messages sent between Lopez Leon and Valenzuela Felix.
In the trial brief, prosecutors wrote that Valenzuela Felix explained his motive in the killings to another inmate at Pierce County Jail. He told the other inmate he was paid $20,000 by a Mexican cartel to kill the two men because they failed to pay owed money.
