No resolution yet in 2012 triple murder

Six years after a triple homicide, the families of the victims will have to wait longer for justice after a judge declined to sentence the case Tuesday.

Tuesday morning, Joe Spencer, the defense attorney for Luis Solis-Gonzalez, told ABC-7 he expected today’s hearing to end in a final resolution in the case. Spencer told ABC-7 his client reached a plea deal with prosecutors and the agreement was going to be entered in court Tuesday.

Solis-Gonzalez is accused of killing 13-year-old Cassaundra Holt, Holt’s mother, Marysol Saldivar, with whom the suspect was romantically involved, and Saldivar’s boyfriend, Eric DeSantiago. Police said the killings happened right before the eyes of the 4-year-old child Solis-Gonzalez had with Saldivar. The bodies of all three victims were found inside an east El Paso home on May 31, 2012.

Tuesday, 243rd District Court Judge Luis Aguilar clarified the docket labeled the appearance of Solis-Gonzalez as a status hearing, not a plea hearing.

At the request of Spencer, Judge Aguilar asked the prosecution if it consented to a change of plans, to which prosecutors replied “yes.”

Aguilar then proclaimed he had to reflect on the decision, then abruptly left the courtroom. About 10 minutes later, he returned, without his robe, to say the court was done for the day.

Spencer told ABC-7 he believed the case would be resolved. “We were hoping, I think, both parties, to try to resolve the case today,” the defense attorney said, “You know, it can be done during status hearing. It can be done during a plea hearing. It can be done just about during any other type of hearing. I’m not sure what the issue is.”

Cassaundra Robinson, the grandmother and namesake of 13-year-old Cassaundra Holt, said waiting for justice has taken an emotional toll.

“It’s almost like we’re doing the time,” Robinson said in a 2016 interview with ABC-7. “It’s almost like we’re imprisoned. We are. We’re in a jail that we never put ourselves in.”