SAN ANTONIO — A man was sentenced to 32 years in prison on Monday for the deadly stabbing of a 40-year-old man. Christopher Olivarez was stabbed to death at his home on the south side back in 2021.
Sebastian Hernandez, entered a plea deal back in August for the crime. Through Crime Stoppers tips, police arrested him nine months after Olivarez was killed in September of 2021.
Investigators say Hernandez allegedly stabbed Olivarez to death at his home on the south side. They also believe Hernandez took off in Olivares' car, because it was found days later burned outside the city.
Through testing, police say Hernandez's DNA was found on the murder weapon. Hernandez pleaded no contest for the murder; it wasn't an admission of guilt, but an indication he was accepting punishment for the crime.
On Monday during the sentencing hearing, Hernandez took the stand where he finally opened up about what claims happened that day in 2021. When asked if he regretted it, he answered "of course."
He claimed he met Olivarez on a dating app and met up several times to hang out. On the day of the stabbing, he said Olivarez had threatened him with a knife and that he had taken the knife of out his hands and then stabbed him.
The prosecutor asked Hernandez why after disarming Olivarez, he proceeded to stab Olivarez 25 times. Hernandez answered stating, "I wasn't thinking, if I'm being honest."
Olivarez's mother, Mary Coronado was in the courtroom Monday. She was too emotional to read her victim impact statement herself so the prosecutor read it out loud.
But she met with KENS 5 at her home Monday night, explaining how it has been a long three years.
“We got postponed a lot of times, it broke my heart but I still didn’t want to give up," Coronado said. "I didn’t want to give up.”
She was relieved when the judge gave Hernandez the maximum sentence. Since he took a plea deal, he will not be able to appeal the decision. He will be eligible for parole after serving half the sentence.
"He took my son's life," Coronado said. "I want it to haunt him for what he did to my son."
Olivarez worked at local TV stations News 4 and Fox 29 as an account executive from 2012 to 2016.