A man who admitted to dragging another man’s body to a dumpster after stabbing him to death was sentenced to 18 to 75 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in court on Thursday.
Joshua Billings, 29, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder and robbery in the 2022 stabbing death of Marcos Rocha, 30, according to court documents.
Before she sentenced him, District Judge Tierra Jones asked Billings if he wanted to make a statement during the hearing. He declined.
Next, Jones called the state’s speakers — relatives and friends whose lives had been impacted by Roacha’s death — to come forward. Meanwhile, Billings’ lawyer, Robert O’Brien, stood beside his client in the jury box.
Rocha’s mother, Martha Santos, told the judge that she has not been the same person since her son was killed.
“My life forever has been shattered,” Santos said, reading a letter she brought. “Living without my son has been very hard and lonely.”
She directed some parts of her speech to Billings.
“We have to go to the cemetery to spend time with him,” she said. “Meanwhile, your family can still talk to you and see you.”
Maritza Lazaro, the mother of Rocha’s teenage daughter, said she had known Rocha since high school. She called him a romantic who wrote love letters and sent songs that reminded her of their relationship.
“His life was so violently stolen. I will never forget the sound, the soul-shattering wail, his mother made when she found out,” Lazaro said “When you lose your spouse, you become a widow. When you lose your parents, you are an orphan. But when you lose your child, there are no words for that kind of devastation.”
While Lazaro spoke, a dozen more relatives and friends sat in the second row of the gallery, sobbing and clutching tissues.
Abiding by the negotiations reached in the plea deal, Jones ordered that Billings spend 10 to 25 years in prison for the count of second-degree murder, adding an extra four to twenty years due to a deadly weapon enhancement. She ordered another three to fifteen years for the robbery charge and added an enhancement of one to fifteen years.
Billings was not removed from the courtroom immediately after his hearing. Instead, he was instructed to sit in the jury box while the next hearing on the docket finished. During that time, he could be seen falling asleep.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com
