15 November 2019 :

A Tarrant County jury sentenced Hector Acosta, 30, native of Mexico, to the death penalty for the September 2017 murders of Erick Zelaya, 26, and 17-year-old Iris Chirinos. Acosta, a self-proclaimed sicario (“hitman”) for the Cartel Del Noreste shot his then-roommate Zelaya and his girlfriend Chirinos in their sleep, before mutilating their bodies with a machete and 2-by-4. He decapitated Zelaya, and after dumping the bodies in a shallow grave in his backyard, he rode a bicycle through the neighborhood to a walking trail a few blocks away where he left Zelaya’s head along with a sign threatening future violence. Acosta claimed to have killed the couple in retaliation for a past drive-by incident in which he believed Zelaya had been a participant. Acosta-Ojeda is also charged with the robbery and killing of 34-year-old Triston Ray Algiene in July 2017. A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Acosta allegedly showed an interest in gang life from as early as age 7. He participated in multiple gangs in both Mexico and Houston before joining the Cartel Del Noreste for which he claimed to have performed kidnappings, tortures and other murders.