Staff Writer
An 18-year-old Big Spring resident pleaded guilty to charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 118th District Court Friday morning, bringing the murder case of a local youth to a close.

Christopher Olivarez, 18, accepted a plea agreement that netted the young man 30 years for the murder charge and 10 years for the aggravated assault charge. The two sentences will run concurrent, according to Howard County District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson.

Olivarez was indicted Oct. 8 by a Howard County grand jury for the May 30 shooting death of 16-year-old Big Spring youth Justin Hernandez during an altercation at a home in the 1600 block of Cardinal.

“This was a very complicated and confusing case. There were a lot of witnesses and a lot of confusion about the factual issues that came about,” said Wilkerson. “We had some factual concerns going into trial, and we also had some legal concerns. There was the potential this could become a manslaughter case and the maximum (sentence) would be 20 years. A 20-year conviction would be absolutely unacceptable in my view, and for the protection of the community and to do my job I felt I had to safely get the maximum number of years possible, and we came to the decision 30 years was going to be acceptable.”

Hernandez was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m. at a Lubbock area hospital, police records show. According to law enforcement officials, Hernandez and a second victim — later identified as 17-year-old Richard Pineda of Big Spring — were shot during an altercation in the roadway in front of the home.

Wilkerson said Friday's plea agreement will officially close the books on the case, but plenty of questions remain.

“There are unanswered questions in this thing,” said Wilkerson. “And there will continue to be unanswered questions. There was a lot of confusion about the events that transpired at 1610 Cardinal, and the press was privy to a lot of the rumors that were flying around rather irresponsibly. People came to conclusions that were, quite frankly, incorrect. It was through the diligent work of the Big Spring Police Department, which spent a lot of time and a lot of man hours, that the truth ultimately came out.

“There were several fights and altercations that occurred at that residence or in the proximity of the residence that night. This was actually the fourth altercation and it was totally unrelated to the previous three. We think there were two groups, two musical groups, who were clashing and agreed to fight it out — it was supposed to be a fist fight — at the Howard County Fair Barns. The group that was at the Cardinal Street residence didn't make it to the fair barn, most likely because of the altercations that were taking place there. Ultimately, the group that was waiting to fight it out at the fair barns came to the residence on Cardinal. Tthey got out and one of them produced a gun.

Wilkerson said Olivarez's involvement in the clash is still somewhat unclear.

“Strangely enough, Chris Olivarez was not a member of either group and had no dog in the fight, so to speak,” said Wilkerson. “He seems to have joined in to even up the manpower. We do believe from the evidence gleaned from the interviews that he (Olivarez) had gotten cross with someone at the residence, and perhaps he had his own ax to grind over earlier altercations at the house, and that perhaps that was the driving motivation for him to bring a gun and shoot toward the crowd of people.”

Investigators with the BSPD came under fire from the victim's mother, local resident Nicole Harbour, who alleged the investigation — prior to Olivarez's arrest — was not a top priority for the law enforcement agency. Wilkerson said he felt the case moved along swiftly.

“The police office came over with some preliminary reports, and quite naturally she (Nicole Harbour) wanted action as fast as possible,” said Wilkerson. “However, the initial reports they brought back were not enough for me to go forward for an indictment. We knew there was additional evidence out there than needed to be found. It took a few weeks to get those interviews and lock it down to where we felt comfortable amidst all the confusion. Once we felt comfortable we could go forward with it and the investigation began to wind itself up, then we did in fact seek an indictment. If you look at this case in its entirety, when it begins May 30 and we've wrapped it up and concluded it on Dec. 4. For a murder case in any area that's moving pretty fast.”

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it