A Galveston County jury has sentenced Rigoberto Argueta-Sontay, a Guatemalan national, to 35 years in prison for the brutal January 2025 murder of his roommate in League City.
The sentence was delivered Thursday following a trial in the 56th Judicial District Court, presided over by Judge Lonnie Cox.
According to case details, League City Police were called to a residence in the 2800 block of Brookmist Lane after reports of a stabbing. Officers arrived to find a man with multiple stab wounds to his torso, face, abdomen, and neck. The victim, Alberto Guzman Brito, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Argueta-Sontay was detained immediately. Eight other men living in the home told investigators they heard screams coming from the bedroom shared by Argueta-Sontay and Guzman Brito, and two witnesses said they saw Argueta-Sontay attacking the victim with a knife. During questioning, Argueta-Sontay reportedly admitted to cutting the victim’s throat. He was indicted for murder by a grand jury that April.
The trial began this week, led by Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael D. Rinehart. Jurors heard from responding officers, including one who described hearing the victim’s labored breathing upon arrival. A medical examiner testified about the extent of the fatal wounds, which damaged internal organs and severed major neck structures.
A recorded interview with investigators, in which Argueta-Sontay gave shifting accounts of what happened, was also played for the jury. Taking the stand in his own defense, Argueta-Sontay admitted to entering the U.S. illegally from Guatemala and claimed he acted in self-defense after being attacked first.
After roughly an hour of deliberation, jurors rejected the self-defense claim and convicted him of murder. During sentencing, his defense pushed for a “sudden passion” finding and a 20-year term, but prosecutors argued for harsher punishment given the crime’s severity and inconsistencies in his statements.
The jury settled on 35 years.
Officials thanked the jury, League City Police, and the Medical Examiner’s Office for their roles in the case.
