Another day, another “oops, my gun went off” case in Lubbock. Gregory Sanchez, now 23, was sentenced to 10 years for killing 15-year-old Manuel Rodriguez back in 2020. According to police, Sanchez told detectives he was just firing at a wall when—oops again—the bullet went through and hit Rodriguez in the back of the head. Totally accidental. Happens all the time, right?
Despite facing a buffet of other charges—stalking, resisting arrest, and even sexual assault of a child—Sanchez scored a plea deal that trimmed things down to a single manslaughter charge. Ten years, serve half, then see you later. The rest? Poof. Dismissed faster than a Lubbock City Council ethics complaint.
And yes, this was the same guy who, while awaiting trial for the killing, allegedly shot at a woman’s home, threatened her by video, and was later accused of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor. But sure—let’s call this a “reckless mistake” and not, say, an ongoing pattern of violent behavior that should concern literally everyone.
Only in Lubbock can you kill a teen, terrorize a woman, and still come out looking like a guy who just made “a few bad choices.”
