Otero County Jury Convicts Jevare Stephawn Freeman-Handy of Tampering with Evidence in 2021 El Paso Homicide

Alamogordo, NM – March 18, 2026 – An Otero County jury has found Jevare Stephawn Freeman-Handy guilty of tampering with evidence following a 2021 homicide in El Paso, Texas, according to the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

The verdict was returned on Monday, March 16, 2026, after a trial presided over in Otero County District Court. Freeman-Handy, who was 35 at the time of the crime, was convicted for his role in concealing the body of 37-year-old Rodolfo Fuentes after killing him on November 17, 2021, along the 900 block of North Zaragoza in El Paso.

According to court records and the investigation, Freeman-Handy and his then-girlfriend, Sunshine Urbina, placed Fuentes’ body inside the victim’s own vehicle and drove it across the state line to Chaparral, New Mexico. Fuentes’ body was later discovered on December 7, 2021, concealed under a pile of clothing in the back seat of the vehicle at a tow yard.

In a later statement to law enforcement, Freeman-Handy admitted to driving the vehicle but claimed he had no knowledge that the body was hidden inside. The tampering charge stemmed from these actions to conceal evidence of the homicide.

Freeman-Handy is already serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas after being convicted of Fuentes’ murder. He now faces sentencing in Otero County on the tampering conviction, with a maximum of three years in prison plus an additional four years as a habitual offender due to prior felony convictions, including attempted murder in 2010 and harassment of a public servant in 2020.

He is also facing separate charges for battering a police officer while in custody at the Otero County Detention Center.

“Members of Fuentes’ family were present for the trial and expressed great relief that justice was served and that Freeman-Handy was held accountable for his actions,” the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office stated.

The case was investigated by the Otero County Sheriff’s Office, the Twelfth Judicial Major Crimes Unit, the Twelfth Judicial District Attorney Investigations Unit, and the El Paso Police Department.

Sentencing in the Otero County case is pending.

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