Odessa Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering his Girlfriend

ODESSA, TX – An Odessa man has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend.

On Aug. 6, 2017 Odessa Police Department officers arrived at a house where Lindsay Baldonado was found dead by a gunshot wound to the forehead. They also found Rubin Edwards with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head except he was rushed to the hospital and survived.

The trial started on Monday and was finished by Wednesday. Police explained to the jury that the two had been in an argument and he shot Baldonado in the head and then shot himself in the head. The officer who was assigned to stay with Edwards said that he told him repeatedly that "He killed that b****. That b**** is dead." He continued by telling the jury that he had no remorse and smiled while talking about it.

The medical examiner also spoke to the jury about the autopsy he had performed on Baldonado. According to CBS 7, the bullet had been fired about a foot from her face, and entered her skull at a downward angle, before hitting her carotid artery and one of her lungs.

Text messages between Edwards and a contact believed to be Baldonado were then revealed in which Edwards wrote “About to commit 10 capital murders,” which witnesses say was the exact number of people at Baldonado’s mother’s house at the time. Other messages indicated Baldonado was fearful of being around Edwards.

It took the jury one hour to come up with the unanimous verdict of guilty. Edwards was then forced to listen to testimonies from Baldonado's mother, friends, and then her children who were 8 and 2 years old at the time of the murder.

Edwards will spend the rest of his life in prison.