Murder Mystery In San Marcos Impacts North Texas Family
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MESQUITE (CBSDFW.COM) - A Mesquite family mourning the death of their son isn't buying his alleged killer's confession. Francisco Sierra died in his bedroom on Friday, the morning after his 20th birthday, from a gunshot to the head.
On Facebook, Sierra described himself as "optimistic," and appears smiling in every picture. It's a stark difference from the man who his roommate described to police in San Marcos, where Sierra moved to attend Texas State University.
According to the arrest affidavit, Esaia Morris claimed that he and Sierra were talking about suicide when he agreed to let Sierra suffocate him. Morris told officers that he changed his mind as Sierra held a pillow over his face. Morris said that he fought back, pulled a gun and shot Sierra.
"Everybody who really knew Francisco knows that that's not possible," said his Sierra's mother, Lupita Garcia.
Garcia said that she found her son's pillow and mattress soaked in blood, pointing to another theory posed by detectives. "From what they have, he was shot while he was laying down, and it was apparent that it was while he was sleeping," she said.
Garcia spoke to her son just hours before his death, after police called her saying that he'd dialed a crisis hotline. She immediately phoned him. "'Are you okay?' He said, 'Yeah, I'm okay,' and I could hear his voice was very groggy. It was very, very obvious that I had woken him up," she said.
Sierra told his mother that the call was likely a prank, and asked her to call again later to wake him up in time for work. By the time she did, police believe that he was dead. Morris went to work that day and police later found the murder weapon in a pond outside of his office.
Morris called police when he returned home, claiming that he had found Sierra dead. Officers said that the evidence, however, indicated that Sierra was murdered, prompting Morris to confess. Two other roommates home at the time of the shooting told police that they didn't hear anything.
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