HAYS COUNTY, Texas — A 28-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison for a murder almost three years ago in Buda.
In late January, William Rojas was found guilty of murder, tampering with evidence – human corpse and tampering with evidence in the April 2022 murder of 19-year-old Esbin Santiago-Gomez. At the time he was charged, in May 2022, he was already in jail in Travis County on unrelated charges.
According to the Hays County District Attorney’s Office, during the trial, it was proven Rojas shot and killed Santiago-Gomez and then drove his body into Hays County, where Rojas stripped Santiago-Gomez of all identifying information before attempting to hide his body.
On March 18, a Hays County judge sentenced Rojas to a life sentence for the murder charge, 20 years in prison for the tampering with evidence – human corpse charge and another 10 years for the tampering with evidence charge.
Following the verdict, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Griffith said in part that, “Mr. Rojas’ callousness in the murder and his actions following the murder were shocking to all those involved.”
DA Kelly Higgins added, “In addition to our gratitude for the excellent work done in investigation and prosecution of this case, the office would commend the sentence of the court as well-deserved.”