Court records show an Ector County Jury convicted a 37-year-old man for capital murder in a death of an unborn child from 2018.
Joel Luna was convicted of capital murder of a child under 10, a capital felony, and aggravated assault to date, household or family member causing serious bodily injury (family violence), a first-degree felony.
The conviction happened Nov. 17 in the 70th District Courtroom of Judge Denn Whalen.
For the capital murder conviction, Luna was sentenced to life without parole in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institution. For the aggravated assault conviction Luna was sentenced to 36 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institution.
Kourtney Williams and Elizabeth Howard prosecuted the case, while Jason Leach and Latawn White were attorneys for Luna.
According to a previous Odessa American article that was posted Aug. 23, 2018, police were first called to Medical Center Hospital on May 1 (2018) in reference to an assault victim, an Odessa Police Department news release stated.
Investigation reportedly showed that Luna had gotten into an argument with his 33-year-old wife, before he reportedly began choking her, causing her to lose consciousness.
The OPD press release detailed that Luna then kneeled on her abdomen and repeatedly applied force while stating he wanted to kill her baby.
Luna’s wife reportedly sought medical treatment and was told by medical personnel that she was five weeks pregnant and had lost the child
