An Ector County jury found a West Odessa man guilty of choking his wife three years ago and sentenced him Friday to 10 years’ probation. They also gave him a $10,000 fine.
Fabian Quinonez Aguilar, 29, was facing a possible prison sentence of two to 10 years in prison for assault family violence/impeding breath or circulation.
Earlier this week, Alexandra Aguilar testified her now estranged husband routinely abused her in front of their three small children during the course of their marriage. She told jurors that on March 16, 2020, her 28th birthday, he choked her to the point of unconsciousness.
Jurors were shown the body cam footage of the Ector County Sheriff’s deputies who took her report that day. The footage showed clear marks on her neck and her badly bruised and swollen face.
On Wednesday, Assistant Ector County District Attorney Henry Eckels had Alexandra Aguilar read aloud a handful of emails her husband sent to her from the jail in the later part of 2020. In them, he apologized for the harm he’s caused her, acknowledged it was all his fault, expressed his hope they could be friends and he could maintain his relationship with their children.
“I’m the ugly person who (expletive) everything up,” he wrote her. “I never meant for it to be like this.”
Alexandra Aguilar told jurors she left her husband for good on Aug. 9, 2020, and cut off all communications with him on July 23, 2021, she said. She’s not yet filed for a divorce, but she has an attorney and is preparing to do so, she said.
Judge Lori Ruiz-Crutcher presided over the trial. Johanna Curry represented the defendant.
