Murder of Sebastian Carpio: the man who got rid of his cell phone sentenced

SAN ANTONIO — Sebastian Carpio's family received further closure Monday, four years after the San Antonio teen's body was found stuffed in the trunk of a stolen car.

Carpio was shot, investigators said, and the car was a charred wreck when it was found in September 2020 in a remote Bexar County pasture. He was then 17 years old.

Now, a second person is headed to prison in connection with Carpio's murder. Felipe Pérez was arrested last August, accused of trying to get rid of a shotgun and a cell phone believed to be linked to the case.

Perez pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison out of a possible maximum of 10. Audible tears accompanied 437th District Court Judge Joel Perez's reading of the sentence.

“You were the only one who reached adulthood,” Ana Maria Carpio, Sebastian's mother, told Perez after the sentence was read. “Your decision in choosing friendship and loyalty to the convicted offender was far greater than doing what was morally and ethically correct. It was a matter of time until that day would come to hold you accountable for your actions.”

Ana Maria Carpio remained steadfast in her quest for justice following the murder of her son. She fought against a premature release of her convicted killer, Edgar De La Cruz, and campaigned for Perez to receive the highest sentence possible.

“He chose to be immoral,” she said before the sentence was determined. “I don’t think he has any remorse.”

De La Cruz is serving a 25-year sentence in an adult prison. He was 18 at the time of Carpio's death and turned himself in shortly after the teen's body was discovered. He would later be found guilty of murder and aggravated robbery.

On the stand Monday, Ana Maria Carpio lamented not having been able to offer Sebastian a traditional funeral.

“It was a closed (ceremony),” she said. “I didn't get to hold him. I didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't get to do a lot of the things that a traditional funeral can offer.”

Earlier in the afternoon, before the judge read the sentence, Perez said he regretted his actions.

Carpio spoke to KENS 5 after the sentencing, where she mentioned a plea deal De La Cruz accepted with the district attorney. She said that in the agreement, he gave investigators several names of people involved in the killing. She said that as a result, more people should be held accountable for her son's murder.

“If the prosecutor’s office has a plea bargain agreement with an offender, then they should use those resources,” Carpio said.

KENS 5 reached out to the Bexar County Prosecutor's Office Monday evening for comment on the conviction and the future of the investigation and did not receive a response.

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