Prison for killer who wrongly ID'd victim as father in teen sister's pregnancy

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A Washington state man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing an Oregon man he mistakenly believed impregnated his 13-year-old sister.

Yoset Dominguez-Serrano, 21, of Outlook, Washington, received the sentence Friday in Yakima County Superior Court, the Yakima Herald reported.

Dominguez-Serrano in January pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the February 2015 killing of Antonio Hernandez-Ledezma, 24, of Boardman, Oregon.

Dominguez-Serrano told police he believed Hernandez-Ledezma had impregnated Dominguez-Serrano’s 13-year-old sister, CBS affiliate KIMA reported, and killed the Oregon man to protect his family’s honor. But DNA tests showed Hernandez-Ledesma wasn’t responsible for the pregnancy.

“You in this particular circumstance acted as the judge, jury and executioner of the victim in this case. And you believed that you were doing so to honor your family. In this court’s eyes you’ve honored no one,” Judge Richard Bartheld told Dominguez-Serrano said, reports the station. “You dishonored your family by committing a heinous crime.”

Yakima County sheriff’s detectives say Dominguez-Serrano lured Hernandez-Ledezma to a meeting by pretending to be interested in buying his car.

Investigators later found the car abandoned with the front passenger window broken and blood on the passenger seat along with a spent bullet cartridge under the emergency brake lever.

In September 2015, a hiker found skeletal remains near an orchard. DNA tests confirmed they belonged to Hernandez-Ledezma.

Defense attorney Aaron Dalan said Dominguez-Serrano isn’t a sophisticated criminal. “He believed he was acting, at least in his mind, to protect his family and the honor of his family,” Dalan said.

Claudia Hernandez, the victim’s sister, spoke with other family members in court about their loss. “I just want to say that he left a big family, a family that never got to say goodbye for the last time,” Hernandez said.

Dominguez-Serrano faces deportation to Mexico once he completes his sentence.