Breckenridge Texan

Breckenridge man pleads guilty to 2017 knife attacks, sentenced to 40 years in prison

Breckenridge man pleads guilty to 2017 knife attacks, sentenced to 40 years in prison
January 25
14:18 2019

Ben Carlos “B.C.” Acosta, 35, of Breckenridge was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday morning, Jan. 25, after pleading guilty to four charges related to a stabbing that took place in November 2017 in the Allsup’s parking lot on West Walker Street.

Acosta pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, enhanced to first degree felonies, and one charge of assault on a public servant, a third degree felony, in the 90th Judicial District Court in the Stephens County Courthouse.

“We had plenty of evidence to go to trial, but this was a really good resolution for the victims, for the community,” District Attorney Dee Peavy said. “He will have to serve a minimum of 20 years before he is even considered for parole, and based on his criminal history, it is unlikely that they would parole him any time soon.”

The charges for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon were enhanced because of the defendant’s prior felony conviction. That means that the charges were moved up a level from second degree to first degree, Peavy said after the proceedings.

“It’s a way of dealing with habitual defenders,” Assistant District Attorney Phillip Gregory said.

Peavy said that Acosta’s previous conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2004 resulted in a 12-year prison sentence. “He served every single day of his 12-year sentence,” she said.

Friday morning, the court was in the early stages of jury selection for the trial that was set to start on Monday, when Acosta pleaded guilty. While the prospective jurors waited in the hallway, Acosta agreed to the plea deal. Judge Stephen Bristow and Peavy told the jury pool that the fact that the potential jurors were assembled at the courthouse and ready to serve on the jury influenced Acosta’s decision to agree to the plea deal.

A fifth charge of aggravated assault – family violence – with a deadly weapon, a first degree felony, from the November 2017 incident, was dismissed because the victim in that case did not want to prosecute, Peavy said.

After Acosta’s plea and sentencing, two of the victims were allowed to address him, explaining the impact his attack has had on their lives.

“The statements were very powerful and showed what good, kind people they are,” Peavy said. “What was so powerful about their impact statements was that they did not exhibit anger, just forgiveness, which I think was more impactful than anger. Perhaps, this defendant realizes, as a result of those statements, that he did great harm to some really good people.”

After the victims’ statements, Acosta was returned to the Stephens County Jail, where he will await transfer to prison, which could take place any time from two weeks to up to 45 days, depending on when the Texas Department of Criminal Justice transfers him, according to Maj. James Barrera, Stephens County Jail Administrator.

The Crime

Acosta was arrested on the night of Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, on multiple charges related to two separate alleged knife attacks that injured four people, including his then-38-year-old girlfriend and three apparent strangers.

“It was an entirely random act,” Gregory said after the plea deal.

According to the police reports filed in 2017, Acosta first stabbed his girlfriend before attacking the others two hours later as they were buying gas at the convenience store. When the police arrived, Acosta was still at the scene and kicked an officer in the face as he was being detained.

On Nov. 5, then-Justice of the Peace Michael Roach set Acosta’s bond at a total of $1,075,000 for six original charges, including a misdemeanor for resisting arrest and the family violence charge that was later dismissed.

For more details about the crime, the bond hearing and Acosta’s prior criminal history, click here to read the Nov. 7, 2017, Breckenridge Texan article.

 

Story by Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan; Tony Pilkington contributed to this article.

Editor’s Note: Carla McKeown was one of many Breckenridge citizens called for the jury pool for this case. Since the defendant pleaded guilty, a jury was never selected. She worked on this article after the prospective jurors were released.

 

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