Christina Morris Kidnapper Sentenced To Life In Prison
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COLLIN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - The man who kidnapped Christina Morris more than two years ago learned his fate today. Earlier this week Enrique Arochi waived his right to a jury sentencing and this morning Judge Mark Rusch handed down a punishment of life in prison.
Prosecutors started the sentencing hearing by asking Judge Rusch to sentence Arochi to life… and they got their wish.
There was a packed courtroom, consisting of several members of Morris's family but no one publically there for Arochi, when the sentence was handed down.
During victim impact statements in the courtroom prior to sentencing, Morris's mother, Jonni McElroy, said even though Arochi is headed to prison she is not done with the case. "I will be at every parole hearing. I will fight; again 'til I take my last dying breath, to make sure that you do not see the light of day. You don't deserve it. She did not deserve what happended to her."
McElroy said she lost her job during the exhaustive search for her daughter. It was during that time she said, "If Christina could get away she would. Christina would find her way to me. That's when I started losing hope."
Also during victim impact statements, stepmother of Christina Morris, Anna Morris made an impassioned plea to Arochi. "Please I beg you, let me bring my daughter home. Let us bring Christina home," she said through tears. "If there is anything left in you -- in your soul -- that has any care or compassion for anything or anyone, you will tell me where she is," she continued.
"And if you choose not to, I don't think there will ever be forgiveness for you in this life or the next one. Because that's an evil that -- just -- you can't fix. If you can live your life and not tell us where she is, you continue to torture everyone in this room. Are you that evil? Is there any man left in you?" Morris said before leaving the stand.
Before the sentence was handed down prosecutors also presented details from another case involving Arochi being accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old. Three detectives testified to establish that Arochi had a pattern of sexually deviant behavior and an interest in torture.
Arochi was the last person seen with Morris, who was 23-years-old at the time, before she vanished from a parking garage at The Shops at Legacy in Plano -- cameras caught Arochi and Morris walking together inside the parking structure. The two had been high school classmates.
After police found DNA samples matched to Morris in the trunk of Arochi's car, he was arrested and charged with Aggravated Kidnapping. Arochi had denied having anything to do with the case, and the location of Christina Morris's body is still a mystery.
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