Jurors were seated Monday to hear the trial of a 28-year-old man accused of killing his girlfriend two years ago at her central Lubbock home.
The trial comes about a month after Isaiah Montelongo, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since his arrest on March 4, 2022, appeared in 140th District Court, where he was expected to plead guilty to murder in the killing from his girlfriend, Monica Rubio. Instead, he rejected the plea offer at the last minute, prompting a trial.
Murder carries a penalty of five years to life in prison. However, Montelongo’s prior convictions for theft and burglary of a habitation could increase his minimum sentence to 25 years.
A jury of nine women and five men was selected Monday afternoon and Montelongo pleaded not guilty.
Montelongo’s charge stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit that began after Lubbock police officers responded to a call of shots fired around 12:20 p.m. on March 3, 2022 in the 1900 block from 22nd Street. Responding officers found Rubio suffering from a gunshot wound. She was taken to Covenant Medical Center where she died.
Rubio was shot in the mouth at close range, according to an arrest affidavit.
Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigators spoke at the scene with Montelongo, who was identified as Rubio’s boyfriend.
Montelongo denied to investigators that he shot Rubio. He said he didn’t know she was at his house, but heard her yelling his name from outside, according to the affidavit.
He opened the door and saw Rubio with another man standing next to the trailer. He said the other man brandished a gun, shot Rubio and ran west on 22nd Street.
Montelongo told investigators he carried Rubio to his trailer and laid her on his bed, where he noticed she was bleeding.
He consented to a search of his trailer, which yielded evidence contradicting his statement that Rubio was shot outside the trailer. Investigators found a bullet with hairs lodged in Montelongo’s pillow on the bed and blood evidence inconsistent with his statement, the warrant states.
Another investigator found video from a nearby security camera that pointed toward 22nd Street, which did not support Montelongo’s statement that his girlfriend’s shooter ran west from his trailer.
This article was originally published in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Trial begins for Lubbock man accused of killing girlfriend in 2019
