© Hays County Sheriff's Office
Krystle Concepcion Villanueva
Krystle Concepcion Villanueva
Krystle Concepcion Villanueva, 27, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killing of Giovanna Hernandez.
It happened back on January 5, 2017. Police were called to the home in Kyle where Villanueva lived with her daughter, the child's father, and the father's parents. Her father-in-law had called 911 to report that Villanueva had attacked him without warning from behind, stabbing him in the back and head before he was able to run away.
Villanueva had remained in the house. A SWAT team entered the home when they learned the child was possibly in danger. They found the girl had been stabbed to death and decapitated, the Hays County District Attorney's Office said. Villanueva was taken into custody and blood testing later revealed the presence of alcohol and marijuana in her system.
At her recent capital murder trial, Villanueva's defense conceded she had killed her daughter, but asked the jury to find her not guilty by reason of insanity. She claimed at the time of the attack she had been delusional that her daughter and her father-in-law had been replaced by clones and had to be killed to bring back her real family members, the DA's Office said.
Villanueva had been treated previously for mental problems, but during the trial the prosecution pointed out that all such treatment coincided with prior drug abuse, and that the symptoms described by Villanueva had never been observed in her prior to or after her arrest.
The jury on Thursday rejected the insanity defense and found her guilty. Villanueva was sentenced by the judge to life without parole for capital murder of a child under ten, and 20 years in prison for the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against her father-in-law.
