A court in San Antonio, Texas, sentenced a man with alleged connections to the Mexican Mafia to a life sentence in prison for the 2013 murder of a college student.
Convicted killer Christian Bautista was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in Bexar County for the December 2013 murder of college student Lauren Bump.
Photo of Lauren Bump courtesy of the Bump family.
He stabbed her 27 times while she was jogging on New Year’s Eve, according to a report from KSAT TV in San Antonio.
It took the jurors in the 186th District Court only 20 minutes to reach a unanimous decision on Tuesday following a court case that lasted five days.
The shaggy haired and bearded Bautista sat through his case by blowing kisses at women in the jury and in the courtroom, and giggling at different times. The San Antonio Express-News reported that his attorney, Tim Molina, acknowledged that his client “was creepy” but that there’s no law against that. He also said that the case was tried in social media before it ever made it to the courthouse.
Bexar County Deputy Medical Examiner Rajesh Kannan told the jury that Bump, only 24 at the time, and was studying to become a physician’s assistant, had 27 deep cuts or stab wounds across her body. Prosecutor Mary Green adding that Bump’s blood was found on a t-shirt and underwear that Bautista was wearing at the time of the killing, the Daily Mail reported. She said that even with the murder weapon still missing, a conviction was called for.
Some of the most riveting testimony in the case came on the third day, when school teacher Edward Wagner told the jury about finding the woman’s body along a trail through O.P. Schnabel Park on the northwest side of San Antonio. “I thought someone was shooting a horror movie” he testified.
He tried to shield his three-year-old son from the bloody and gruesome scene when he realized that it was a murder. He and his wife had seen Bautista a short while earlier as they were walked down the same trail, looking for a picnic spot, and commented to each other how creepy he looked. They even joked at the time that he might be a serial rapist.
Another element of the punishment phase of the trial was the introduction of additional evidence in the form of Bautista’s many tattoos on his chest, back, and arms. Pictures were shown to the jury, and explained by gang expert Nick Rocha. He testified that prisoners in the Bexar County jail are segregated according to gang affiliation, and that Bautista’s ink is a direct connection to the Mexican Mafia, with the number “13” on his stomach, and that represents “M” the 13th letter in the alphabet. He said Bautista has been associated with the Mexican Mafia for many years.
There is also Aztec warrior in the center of his back, topped with “Sodado” or “Soldier” banner across the top of his shoulders.
Breitbart Texas has provided extensive coverage of the Mexican Mafia, documenting their atrocities and criminal enterprises, as well as how law enforcement continues to dismantle their operations on both sides of the border.
Rob Milford is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. You can follow him on Facebook.