ANDREWS, Texas — An Andrews man has pled guilty to a 2020 murder almost four years later.
According to an arrest affidavit, on Feb. 15, 2020, at about 3:44 a.m., the Andrews County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the area of the 2300 block of SE 700 in reference to a disturbance. There was "a lot of people screaming" with several cars leaving the area.
Later on, at about 3:52 a.m., officers with the Andrews Police Department were dispatched to Permian Regional Medical Center in regard to a male subject with gunshot wounds.
When they got there, Usbaldo Nunez was dead and had multiple gunshot wounds. Witnesses at the scene stated that Nunez was discovered inside a vehicle in 2300 block of SE 700.
Back at the scene, deputies were relayed this information and were able to locate broken glass from a vehicle and a single shell casing. The vehicle had multiple "bullet holes" entering from outside the passenger door and window towards the interior side of the driver seat and door panels, indicating that the shooting happened from outside the vehicle to the inside.
An investigation revealed that a party was happening in the 2300 Block of SE 700 in a shop building. Several of the partygoers were brought in for witness statements.
According to the many interviews, there was no fighting leading up to the discovery of Nunez's body. In fact, the witnesses said the party was fun and enjoyable with everyone seemingly getting along.
Witnesses said Nunez was in the vehicle to which he was shot in and was alone for some time near the end of the party.
A witness said that Nunez had reoccurring issues with someone named Darian Gonzalo Sanchez, who according to witnesses had arrived at the party, dropped off two females, but never came inside the party.
Further witnesses say Darian was at the party towards the end, which would be consistent with the timing that Nunez was inside the vehicle and alone.
On Feb. 17, an APD officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop in the area of Southeast Ave E and Southeast Mustang, not knowing the driver was Sanchez. The stop was for an expired registration sticker. Sanchez refused to stop for the officer and a pursuit started. Sanchez failed to have any regard for the safety of others.
They were able to follow Sanchez to his residence. This is when the initial officer identified the driver as Sanchez, who was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit into the residence.
The next day investigators interviewed Sanchez in regard to the murder. Sanchez placed himself at the scene of the murder in his passenger car which matches believed bullet trajectories, while also providing an alibi that was lacked details and couldn't be corroborated.
Sanchez denied being involved in the murder and was released back to the Andrews County Jail before bonding out.
Over the next two days investigators began looking into the timeline of Sanchez's statement and found issues with his timelines and locations.
Witnesses said there was a history of disturbances between Sanchez and Nunez, including Sanchez previously robbing Nunez at gunpoint. Nunez and his friends then retaliated and assaulted Sanchez. It was thought that Sanchez then broke into Nunez's residence and stole personal items and caused damage. They also reportedly had been involved in a fist fight. All of these instances happened since the beginning of 2020.
On Feb. 28, investigators were contacted by a cooperating witness who received substantial firsthand account from Sanchez about the murder. Sanchez described to the witness details about the scene of the crime that would have to come from someone who was at the scene.
The details also corroborated evidence collected by police.
The witness was not at the party, had no ties to either Sanchez or Nunez, but relayed information about the scene that could have been known by someone at the murder scene. The witness has an alibi that can be corroborated and was not a suspect in the murder.
Sanchez was arrested and booked into the Andrews County Jail that same day with a $1,000,000 bond.
Sanchez's bond was later reduced to $250,000 after a bond deduction meeting. He then posted bail on July 20, according to Andrew County News.
In August of 2021, Sanchez was arrested in an officer involved shooting in Odessa. He was charged with aggravated assault against a public servant among other charges.
According to court records, Sanchez pled guilty to aggravated assault against a public servant as well as aggravated robbery and evading arrest with a motor vehicle on June 21, 2023.
He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
He was booked back into the Andrews County Jail on July 27, 2023.
According to court documents obtained by NewsWest 9, on Nov. 6. Sanchez pled guilty to the 2020 Andrews murder.
According to court documents, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, to run concurrent with his Ector County sentence.
