A 25-year-old eastern Denton County man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him of capital murder in the kidnapping and stabbing death of the great-aunt who raised him.

Adrian Joe Padilla received a life sentence without the possibility of parole after the jury returned its guilty verdict Aug. 14 at the Denton County Courts Building, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported. Jurors deliberated roughly two hours.

Padilla killed 71-year-old Mary Inez Jacinto, a retired Dallas ISD bilingual paraprofessional who spent 30 years in the district, at their shared home in the 11100 block of Canyon Oak Street in the Silverado development north of Providence Village. Prosecutors said the stabbing occurred after Jacinto tried to evict Padilla from her home.

Self-defense claim rejected

Defense attorneys Derek Adame and Rebecca Lively argued Jacinto threatened Padilla with a knife during the eviction argument. Padilla did not take the stand, and the defense called no witnesses.

Prosecutors Michael Graves and Megan Wohr countered that Jacinto was a peaceful mother figure who posed no physical threat. Even if she had brandished a knife, Wohr argued, Padilla's response went far beyond self-defense: after stabbing Jacinto, he physically dragged her back into the house as she tried to escape to her car and continued the assault. That act of dragging Jacinto back is the kidnapping element that elevated the charge to capital murder under Texas law.

Medical Examiner Mark Shelly testified Jacinto suffered three stab wounds to the abdomen, a sharp force wound to the side of her head and at least six cuts on her feet. Detective Jake Kennedy's arrest photos showed Padilla had no injuries or marks on his body.

Graves told jurors Padilla was "entitled and lazy" — lazy even in his attempts to cover up the killing.

Concealment and arrest

Aubrey Police Department officers responded to a welfare check after family members could not reach Jacinto by phone. When officers arrived, Padilla raised his head over the locked backyard fence and told them, "I have self-defense."

Officers detained Padilla and found Jacinto's body behind the house, wrapped in layers of bedding with dirt from potted plants poured on top. Inside the home, several framed photos of Jacinto had been turned face down. Padilla told detectives he didn't want to see her face.

The jury also convicted Padilla of tampering with physical evidence for concealing the body and sentenced him to five years on that charge.

Family addresses killer in court

After the verdict, Jacinto's relatives spoke directly to Padilla. Her brother-in-law John Rodriguez called Jacinto the heart of the family and said she loved Padilla like a mother.

"She wanted you to excel and to do better," Jacinto's son, John Paul Gonzalez, told Padilla during the victim impact statements. "I hope that you find some healing and that you understand the gravity of what you did."

The family shared a letter found in Jacinto's home, written shortly before her death, in which she expressed gratitude and described how blessed she was.

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. No information about a potential appeal was available in court records reviewed for this report. The Denton County District Attorney's Office was not independently contacted.