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WEDNESDAY • JUNE 21, 2023 JEANNE GREGORY REALTOR®, CRS, GRI, ABR
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 48 • No. 34 • $1.00
Man sentenced to life in prison for the 1999 murder of his wife in Stafford By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
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Following a week-long trial, A Fort Bend County took less than an hour Tuesday to convict Apolinar Tejeda of murder and less than 30 minutes to sentence him to life in prison for the 1999 shooting death of his wife.
Richmond poised The jury also assessed the maximum $10,000 fine. to show off its Jurors found that Tejeda, 71, of Houston, shot his wife, 'brilliance,' Rosa Liberato, inside her car in mayor says in the parking lot of an Aramark store in Stafford in the early annual address morning hours of Oct. 13, 1999. By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Richmond, the once-sleepy seat of Fort Bend County, is growing fast and is expected to grow even faster in the coming years, Mayor Becky Haas said in the annual “State of the City” address at the ornate Briscoe Manor last week. “I’ve been mayor for over two-and-a-half years now, and the learning curve was pretty sharp,” Haas said. “I guess the best term to describe my time is ‘humbling.’”
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The store manager told police that they had seen a suspicious vehicle in the parking
lot around 5:30 a.m., and other witnesses reported that they heard gunshots approximately 15 minutes later. The investigation eventually identified Apolinar Tejeda as a suspect. Witnesses stated that Tejeda borrowed a relative’s car in the early morning hours prior to the murder and later abandoned that same vehicle at a friend’s home. That vehicle was identified by the Aramark manager as the suspicious vehicle he had seen in the parking lot on the morning of the murder. Tejeda fled Texas immediately after the murder and was believed to be, at various times, in California, Mexico and North Carolina. It was later learned that Tejeda used several aliases during this time.
In 2018, the Stafford Police Department received a tip that Tejeda was in North Carolina. Based on this tip, federal agents and local authorities apprehended Tejeda in August 2018, 19 years after Liberato’s death. Rosa Liberato’s son testified at trial that in the weeks prior to the murder, when he was 14, his father, Tejeda, had threatened to harm Liberato. The victim’s daughter also testified that two days before the murder, she overheard a similar conversation between Liberato and Tejeda. Other family members testified about the tumultuous relationship between the victim and the defendant. “The defendant avoided responsibility for this hor-
rific crime for far too long,” said Assistant District Attorney Sunni Mitchell, the lead prosecutor, said in a press release. “We are grateful to the jury for rendering a swift and just verdict holding Apolinar Tejeda accountable for his actions. After 24 years, justice was finally obtained for Rosa Liberato and her family.
and survivors of domestic violence. The number to the Fort Bend County Women’s Center Crisis Hotline is (281) 342-HELP (4357) and the tollfree number to the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
Tejeda was tried in the 268th District Court before Presiding Judge Steve Rogers. Murder is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years, or life, in prison and a fine up to $10,000. The defendant must serve at least half of his sentence before being considered for parole. Fort Bend County has resources to support victims
Apolinar Tejeda, 71, was convicted this week of murder in the 1999 shooting death of his wife, Rosa Liberato, in Stafford. Courtesy Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office
Stafford marks Juneteenth with inaugural festival
She expressed her tremendous respect for the city’s employees, as well as for the city Commissioners, whom, she said, even when they disagree treat each other with professionalism. “These are sunny times in Richmond. We pride ourselves on our history, our city being a treasure, and the growth in population, business, and opportunities,” she said. “And that is the challenge - linking our past with our progress. As they say, times are a-changing.” Haas cited Richmond’s “picaresque downtown and our historic buildings” not only for their charm but also for being among the drivers of the city’s residential and business development in recent years. “Tomorrow we will be challenged with accommodating yet-to-be-determined growth and development. Did I say tomorrow? Tomorrow is today,” she said. SEE RICHMOND PAGE 2
Zyana Williams, 11, performs a stirring rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at Stafford’s inaugural Juneteeth Fesrtival. Photo by Ken Fountain
By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Richmond Mayor Becky Haas gives the annual ‘State of the City’ address at Briscoe Manor. Photo by Ken Fountain
The City of Stafford held its inaugural Juneteenth Festival at the Stafford Centre on Sunday, marking the new national holiday with performances, familyfriendly activities and art honoring the history of African-Americans throughout Texas history. Stafford’s celebration was only one of the events across
Fort Bend County celebrating Juneteenth, which was enacted as a federal holiday in 2021. It marks the occasion on June 19, 1865, after the conclusion of the Civil War, when U.S. Army troops occupied Galveston and Major Gen. Gordan Granger read aloud a general order announcing that all enslaved people in the Texas were now free. Last year, the Stafford City Council voted not only to officially mark the holiday, but to create its own festival
along the lines of the one long held by neighboring Missouri City. Although the effort to create the festival had a tumultuous gestation, most attendees at Sunday’s event seemed to have a great time. The event featured familyfriendly games, local vendors, and perhaps most movingly, a display of artwork and other artifacts from the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, based in the Houston Musuem District, which pays homage to the Black troops
of the U.S. Army Calvary who served in the Great Plains states in the latter half of the 19th Century, as well as the contributions of Black Americans to military efforts throughout the nation’s history. Cynthia McGuiness, of Houston, attended the event at the invitation of a friend. She carefully studied the artworks on display, including a print of a painting of the 54th Massachusetts Calvary Regiment, the unit
comprised entirely of Black troops that fought in the Civil War (depicted in the 1989 film Glory) and a quilt made by local artist Phyllis Harris depicting the 9th and 10th Horse Calvary, whose members were called “Buffalo Soldiers.” “Doc” Brown of Missouri City, an officer with the group which now honors those units, was among those SEE JUNETEENTH PAGE 2