WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A 38-year-old Palm Springs man was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole after being convicted in the shooting deaths of a man and woman near West Palm Beach in 2018.
On Thursday, Circuit Judge Sarah Willis sentenced Hipolito Jesus Fraguela to the two life terms as well as a mandatory minimum of 25 years to be served concurrently. On July 6, a jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and one count of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm.
Crystal Rivera, 20, and Justin Moyer, 33, were shot and killed while inside a car at Belvedere Road and Drexel Road around 3:18 a.m. on June 4, 2018.
Valli Moyer has lost both of her sons. David died in 2015.
“I feel like I lost everything,” she said in an interview with WPTV at the time.
During sentencing, she said: "This has been over five years. Every day that I wake up, it's June 4, 2018, for me. What you have done to my son, senselessly, ignorantly, you should have been stopped a long time ago."
Justin, who was the father of a 6-year-old son, had been pursuing a music career. He was
a Palm Beach Lakes High graduate.
The mothers of Moyer and Rivera sat next to one another in the courtroom during the trial.
Sheriff's deputies found Rivera and Moyer dead in a black Chevrolet Malibu outside the Fast Stop In Go convenience, just west of Palm Beach International Airport.
Three other people were found standing outside the vehicle, including a woman who was taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds, later identified as Bailey Post.
Prosecutors said Fraguela and Moyer were involved in drug deals.
They said Fragula killed him after $1,700 worth of marijuana was stolen from him.
During the evening of the shooting, Moyer was with friends at Spearmint Rhino Gentleman’s Club before he and four others began to drive away.
One of the car's occupants said a man, later identified as Fraguela, pulled up beside them in a white SUV, aimed a gun at Moyer and said: "This is for you."
Fraguela was a two-time convicted felon, including aggravated child abuse in 2011.
