Janie Montez has long prayed and waited for this day: on Tuesday, Cedric Green was sentenced to prison in the killing of Elizabeth Stephanie Montez.

She looked directly at Green, 40, as she addressed him in court. Less than an hour before, a Nueces County jury handed down a sentence of more than 60 years.

Green did not pull the trigger, but he may as well have when he gave the orders to kill her sister, Montez said.

"You will be an example that those words that you chose that night were powerful, and you had a chance to give her that life and you didn't," Montez said.

After convicting Green in less than two hours Monday, the jury sentenced him to 55 years for murder and 65 years for engaging in organized criminal activity.

Green is eligible for parole after 27.5 years on the murder count and after 30 years on the other.

He is one of four people charged in the killing of Elizabeth Stephanie Montez, a 47-year-old transgender woman. The jury found him guilty on Monday of murder and engaging in organized criminal activity.

"The good thing that we found here is that the jury saw the evidence and they were metered in their response, but they found that a substantial crime deserved a substantial sentence," said First Assistant District Attorney Matt Manning.

Prosecutors asked for a life sentence and Green’s attorney Mark Stolley asked the jury to come to a sentence on “the lower end” of the punishment range.

Green faced anywhere from 15 years to life in prison.

During the trial's first phase, prosecutors argued Green was the leader in coming up with a plan to kill Montez for stealing $20 in change.

Manning said Green, Chloe Huehlefeld, Randy Dorsey and Jace Montange met and organized her death, formulating a plan to lure her out to an abandoned barn near County Road 61 and shooting her.

Green's attorney Mark Stolley maintained that there was a lack of hard evidence against his client and that the investigation was not thorough.

Stolley said jurors should consider Montez's involvement with drugs and other criminal activity she was allegedly involved in when assessing her sentence. Prosecutors maintained during the trial that Montez was involved with drugs and prostitution, but that she did not deserve to be killed.

"Because she's doing something that's completely unrelated to what brings about her demise, we should punish him less severely?" Manning said. "That makes no sense."

During his closing arguments, Stolley also pointed out that co-defendant Randy Dorsey, also initially charged with murder and engaging in organized criminal activity, received probation for his involvement. He called Dorsey "equally culpable."

Stolley said the prosecutor's argument that Green should get life because he planned the crime "diminishes that each of us have free will." He said Huehlefeld and Montange were shooters and could have chosen to not be involved.

Prosecutors asked the jury to consider Green's role as the crime's organizer.

"Think about what kind of person it takes to manipulate two people into carrying out a murder on your behalf," Prosecutor Jared Horton said.

Montez was found on the porch of a home between Corpus Christi and Robstown in October 2017, according to an affidavit. When authorities arrived, she was "bleeding and not communicating effectively," the document states.

She was taken to the hospital and later died. An autopsy found she suffered five gunshot wounds.

After the trial, Stolley said Green plans to appeal the jury's decision.

"He maintains his innocence, as he has," Stolley said. "He pled not guilty. As a professional, as his attorney, we respect the jury's verdict, that is their decision and their role in this, but he intends on appealing."

Huehlefeld was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Dorsey accepted a plea deal in the case for 10 years of probation, probated for 10 years in prison. He has not yet been sentenced. Montange is still awaiting trial.

Janie Montez said her sister's death has impacted her and her family.

"We can never speak to her again," Montez said. "You took that away from us."

Despite that, Montez said she has asked God for help forgiving him.

"I want the plans God has in store for me and my family," she said. "That's why I release you. I forgive you."

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