Man Sentenced to 18 Years After Brutal Assault and Rape of Estranged Wife

Mark Anthony Favela was facing six felony charges that included the rape and assault of his estranged wife and the stabbing of John Melendez Monday, when he struck a last-minute deal with the state on two of the charges and had the other four dropped.

The plea occurred during a break in the jury selection process around noon, when state prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Meagan White and defense counsel Stephanie Goodman met in an alternate courtroom before Judge Ben Woodward and declared themselves ready for a plea.

Charged with two counts of the aggravated sexual assault of Sonya Favela, two counts of assault (with) family violence against Sonya and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Favela dropped his jury trial and entered a guilty to plea to one of the family violence charges and one of the aggravated assault charges.

Court documents reveal that the offenses occurred on three different occasions over the span of a month, and took place in his estranged wife’s home and vehicle. The first of these occasions, a complaint states, took place on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, when Sonya Favela came home to find the defendant hiding in her house in the 200 block of E. 43rd St.

In a complaint written by SAPD Detective Brian Elkins, Sonya is reported to have gone out to a local bar with friends, then returned home to be confronted by Favela, who questioned her as to where she’d been. Sonya told Elkins she then began “talking mess”, which angered Favela to violence.

Favela then began punching Sonya in her chest, arms and thighs, ceasing the abuse only when she stated that she needed to leave to pick up their daughter. Referring to photographs taken after the assault, Elkins wrote that he observed “numerous bruises, contusions, scrapes and cuts over the entire body of the victim consistent with the information given…”

For the incident on Dec. 14, Favela was indicted on one count of assault family violence in January 2014, and pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday. He was sentenced to 18 years confinement.

The next incident occurred roughly a week later on Dec. 22, 2013, when Favela again erupted into violence after he and Sonya went to a local bar and got into an argument over another woman. Sonya Favela told Detective Elkins that she left the bar following the argument because she felt she was going to be assaulted, but returned later when she assumed Favela would be gone.

Upon returning, Sonya discovered that her estranged husband was still there. While en-route to her home that evening, Favela told her to instead go to the Crazy Goat and park in a dark space behind the bar.

Fearful that Favela intended to kick her out of the car and leave her there, Sonya pulled up behind the bar and waited for Favela to exit, then attempted to drive off. Her attempt to flee was foiled when Favela managed to stop her, the complaint states. He then began to hit her in the face and body, pulling her hair and dragging her into the passenger side of the vehicle.

The complaint states that as the assault continued the woman attempted to get out of the car, but Favela grabbed her by her hair, forced her to the floorboard and continued to beat her in the face and head as she faded in and out of consciousness. As he did so, he told her “she wanted to be hit” and she was “getting what she deserved”.

The assault continued as Favela drove for approximately 10 minutes, the complaint states, during which time he assaulted her with a bat that she said is used to break out windows in emergency situations.

Approaching an area where she could only see tall grass, Sonya told Elkins that Favela stopped the vehicle, dragged her out of the car, and continued to kick and beat her with the bat, stating he was going to kill her. At this point, she pleaded for her life and was transported to her home, where Favela bathed her to remove the mud and blood, then took her to the bedroom.

Once in the room, Favela sexually assaulted her despite her cries to say no, and was then forced to get dressed and leave. Sonya was then forced to unlock her phone and was able to call for emergency services, but then gave the phone to Favala who broke it and once again began to assault her. She then managed to hide in the bathroom and scream for help when police arrived.

For the incident on Dec. 22, Favela was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault, one count of assault family violence and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the assault with the bat.

Favela pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault charge on Monday and was sentenced to 18 years confinement in Judge Woodward’s court. His sentence will run concurrently with the previous charge. 

The final incident occurred on Jan. 18, 2014, at El Tenampa Bar, located in the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Blvd. San Angelo Police Officer Tina Burks was dispatched to the bar for the report of the stabbing of John Melendez, who stated he had been attacked by a man he did not know without any kind of previous altercation.

Melendez stated that he had met a girl named Sonya at the bar and gone to her car with her after the bar closed. After entering the vehicle, the complaint states, a Hispanic male approached the driver side window, made a statement to Sonya, then told Melendez he needed to leave.

Melendez then got out of Sonya’s vehicle and she left, however as he approached his truck he was stabbed in the left side of his back by the mysterious man. As he turned to face him, the man cut his face, then ran to a teal Chrysler 300.

A witness on the scene, Gracie Chavarria, stated that she was to be given a ride home from Sonya after the bar closed and then she heard a commotion outside. She exited the bar to see Mark Favela extending his arm toward Melendez. Chavarria knows Favela and could recognize him on sight, she said, then she described the vehicle as speeding off down MLK.

When officer Richard Cercone noticed a teal Chrysler 300 speeding in the 900 block of Irving, he stopped the vehicle and identified the driver as Mark Favela. Favela told Officer Cercone that he had been at Grinner’s bar, but had gone home to get a phone charger when the bar closed. He said he had not been at the bar where the stabbing occurred, but drove south on MLK to head to a party.

By this point, the officer had learned that Favela was a suspect in a stabbing, but Favela denied all parts of it and said he had not had any contact with Sonya that day. Following the incident, Favela was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The sum of his charges and prior convictions led to enhancement paragraphs on most of them, thus the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge was enhanced to a first-degree felony and the family violence charge was enhanced to a second-degree felony.

"Ok, Mr. Favela. You'll go to prison now for a long time," Judge Woodward said after the sentencing. "Be respectful, and when you get out make respectul decisions."

All other charges have been dismissed in exchange for the guilty pleas and Favela was escorted to the county jail around 12:15 Monday afternoon. Due to his jailings in December and January, Favela has already served approximately nine months of  his 18-year sentence. If he serves the full 18 years, he’ll be 47 when he’s released from jail.