Eliel Avelar
A self-confessed killer-for-hire who murdered a Columbus resident three years ago has been sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Eliel Avelar, 34, pleaded guilty to murder in a plea bargain accepted last month in the death of 37-year-old Leobardo Rodriguez Flores. Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton sentenced Avelar to the maximum allowed by the plea agreement, saying anything less would diminish the seriousness of the crime.
Ten other felonies and one misdemeanor charge were dropped in exchange for the plea. In addition, the prosecution also agreed to a maximum sentencing cap.
“At the end of the day, judge, this was a heinous crime – the like of which, to my knowledge, we have never seen before in our community,” Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay said while addressing the court.
Investigators say co-defendant Abraham Jimenez Cesareo, 38, hired Avelar to drive to Columbus to either physically assault or kill Flores. Worton says he believes the shooting was always intended to be a murder-for-hire.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Cesareo was angry the victim was dating his former girlfriend. Witnesses told detectives that while the woman and Cesareo were together for over 11 years, the couple had broken up several weeks before Flores was killed.
Cesareo’s former girlfriend told detectives she was battered, strangled, intimidated and confined by Cesareo nearly three months before Flores’ death. But she used a special app on a cell phone to obtain multiple recordings in which Cesareo can be heard offering money to have Flores harmed, a court affidavit states.
The victim was shot in the head at night in the parking lot of his employer, Tool Dynamics, on Feb. 26, 2020.
In early September, Cesareo received 28 years in prison for robbery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 2 felony, and 12 years for aiding, inducing or causing kidnapping while hijacking a vehicle as a Level 3 felony. In total, that’s a 40 year sentence.
Worton listed eight aggregators as his reasons for handing down the maximum sentence allowed by the plea bargain.
- Avelar has a history of criminal delinquent behavior, including a battery and an issue involving a firearm.
- Flores’ death was a murder-for-hire.
- The defendant did lie in wait for the victim to come to the parking lot prior to the shooting.
- It is a crime that affects the community’s ability to have a sense of safety.
- There is continuing harm and suffering experienced by the victim’s family. Relatives testified through a video conference last month that all but one of Flores’ children were forced to leave school to work because they no longer receive income from their father.
- Avelar drove all the way from his home to Columbus (220 miles) to commit the crime. Worton said he had plenty of time to change his mind, turn around and return home.
- Avelar made substantial steps to cover up his crime that include telling many different stories to investigators regarding the murder.
- The cold and callous nature of the crime.
Worton said he didn’t consider remorse a mitigating factor because the defendant was still blaming drugs and alcohol for his behavior. The judge also said he doesn’t believe defense claims that mental and physical health problems were factors in the murder.
A 37-year-old woman who connected Cesareo with Avelar for the attack on Flores, Eladia Jacabo Ortiz, pleaded guilty in August to aiding, inducing or causing aggravated battery as a Level 3 felony. Ortiz is scheduled to be sentenced at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 6.
The final defendant, Esam Mohammad Abujouedeh, 26 of Oak Forest, Illinois, allegedly served as Avelar’s driver the night of the killing. He’s charged with battery resulting in a serious bodily injury as a Level 5 felony. A change of plea hearing for Abujouedeh is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Nov. 13, with a pre-trial conference set for Nov. 27 at 11 a.m. His trial is tentatively scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 12.
