EPHRATA — Following a three-week trial and about a day and a half of deliberations a Grant County jury has found a Desert Aire man guilty of murdering a woman he was in a relationship with in 2012.

The jury found Jose Aguilar Aguilar, 38, of Desert Aire, guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, second-degree assault and intimidating a witness. The jury found that Aguilar Aguilar acted with deliberate cruelty to the murder victim, Carmelita Lopez Santos, 42, of Yakima, and used a firearm during the commission of two of the crimes, according to court documents.

Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz set Aguilar Aguilar’s sentencing date for May 17. Chief Prosecutor Alan White said the state will be looking to dismiss the second-degree murder charge and noted that Aguilar Aguilar is looking at a minimum of 31.75 years in prison.

“We will have to look at all of the sentencing options, but we are not going to take Carmelita Lopez’s life lightly,” White stated. “We expect one or two of her family members to give us some input at the sentencing hearing.”

He said the returned verdict indicates that the jury put a lot of time into their decision.

“You can tell they didn’t make an emotional decision. It appears to us they did a thorough, logical examination of all the exhibits,” White said.

Aguilar Aguilar was taken into custody on Oct. 29, 2012 at a Mattawa laundromat after Lopez Santos' body was found by a hunter near the Buckshot Wildlife Access area on Oct. 16.

Investigators located four 9mm shell casings and a bullet jacket near Lopez Santos body. Upon searching Aguilar Aguilar’s residence investigators discovered a 9mm handgun in his bedroom, along with cowboy boots and a purse in a detached garage, both of which had blood stains on them. The purse matched a purse Lopez Santos was seen with at one time.

In addition, Grant County Prosecuting Attorney Garth Dano previously stated the blood stains on the purse, which contained items indicating the purse belonged to Lopez Santos, and the cowboy boots contained DNA that came back as a positive match to the victim.

Lopez Santos was reported missing from the Yakima area on Oct. 15 after informing her family members she was going to the Tri-Cities with a friend. When Aguilar Aguilar was taken into custody on Oct. 29, 2012 Lopez Santos’ cellphone was found in his vehicle. Aguilar Aguilar kept the phone and spoke with Lopez Santos’ family members and friends in a series of calls when they attempted to get into contact with her.

Dano stated 13 phone calls were made from Lopez Santos’ phone to members of her family between Oct. 16-28, 13 calls were made to her co-worker between Oct.16-28, and four calls were made to her fiancé between Oct. 16-19.

Aguilar Aguilar told some of the people that Lopez Santos went to Mexico with her boyfriend and threatened one of her coworkers, stating he would shoot them if they didn’t mind their own business. He claimed he didn’t know who Lopez Santos was during a couple of the calls and advised he found the phone in a Walmart parking lot.

In regard to the intimidating a witness charge, Dano previously explained that evidence shows that Aguilar Aguilar told his roommate he shot Lopez Santos and later threatened the man and told him he was going to kill him.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.