ODESSA, TX (KWES) - An Ector County jury has reached a verdict for one man accused of murder and other charges.
Eric Hill was found guilty of tampering or fabricating physical evidence following a Nov. 2012 shooting at the MCM Elegante Hotel. Hill was sentenced to two and a half years probation and will have to pay a $5,000 fee during that time. If Hill messes up during probation, he can serve up to 10 years in prison.
Hill was found not guilty of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
During Hill's testimony he admitted to cleaning the vehicle where he shot John Monroy as self defense. Hill tried to hide the vehicle by taking it to Dallas, where he's from. Once law enforcement located the car and obtained a warrant, the vehicle turned up missing again, this time was found in Louisiana.
Hill's attorney, Adrian Chavez said at the time Hill was scared and acted on it.
"He should have stayed there and waited for police and waited for the process to work itself out and it would have worked itself out if he would have stayed there," said Chavez.
Hill is a military veteran, Chavez said the as convicted felon, the rights he fought for are taken away.
"To people that are true patriots and really love America, losing the right to vote, the right to have a gun and losing the right to serve on a jury, hose are some of the gifts that we have as Americans, that nobody has, and he's lost those forever and that was hard on him," said Chavez.
After Hill's conviction he addressed the courtroom and said he wished he would have done things differently by not tampering the evidence and not put the jury through the hardship of the conviction.
