A Dallas jury found Lisa Dykes guilty of killing Marisela Botello-Valadez in 2020 and sentenced her to life in prison after deliberating for just a few hours on Wednesday.
Dykes stood accused of murdering 23-year-old Botello and tampering with Botello’s body after cell phone records and forensic evidence led police to build a case against her, as well as two other suspects. She was found guilty on both counts and will serve the life sentence and 20-year sentence concurrently.
Heath Harris, Dykes’ lawyer, told reporters that although he believes his client received a “very, very fair trial,” she maintains her innocence and he has already submitted an appeal, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The weeklong trial of the 60-year-old kicked off on December 5 after a long delay caused by a snafu caused by Dallas police detectives failing to turn over evidence as well as accusations from state prosecutors that the appointed judge, Amber Givens, was biased against them, as previously reported in The Dallas Express. Botello went missing in Deep Ellum in October 2020 while visiting a Dallas friend for the weekend and her body was recovered in a rural area of southern Dallas County in March 2021.
Botello was last seen in the company of Charles Beltran, who provided crucial testimony during Dykes’ trial. He told jurors that he had been in an intimate relationship with Dykes, who lived with him in Mesquite together with her wife, Nina Marano. According to his testimony, Dykes flew into a jealous rage when Beltran came back home with Botello and stabbed her to death while Marano prevented him from rendering aid.
As recently covered in The Dallas Express, due to this new version of events, District Attorney John Creuzot’s office dropped murder charges against Marano and Beltran on December 8. They will still face charges related to allegedly tampering with Botello’s body, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Dykes’ conviction hinged heavily on Beltran’s testimony as well as evidence in what Harris referred to as “one of the worst homicide investigations in Dallas County history.”
“Unfortunately for us, the jurors believed Mr. Beltran,” said Harris. “I thought we did a good job of proving that he was lying. They disagreed.”
The victim’s family members sat in the courtroom during Dykes’ trial, with her younger brother, Luis Botello-Valadez, giving the only victim impact statement.
“I hope that you get what you deserve in that prison cell,” he said. “Despite you getting life in prison, me and my parents are going to have to live the rest of our lives going to family get-togethers, holidays, birthdays that my sister will no longer be a part of — all because of you.”
The Dallas Police Department has been finding it challenging to keep crime under control, especially the murder rate. It fields around 3,000 officers on staff, even though a previous City analysis recommended that Dallas needs about 4,000 to maintain public safety properly.
As of December 14, there had been 231 murders in Dallas, representing a year-over-year hike of 11.6%, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard.
Downtown Dallas has seen the worst of this officer shortage, logging considerably more criminal activity than Fort Worth’s city center, which is patrolled by a dedicated police unit and private security guards.
