San Antonio man gets 40-year prison sentence in 2023 case with two victims found buried

Sentencing concludes one of the prosecutions tied to a South Side double homicide

A San Antonio man has been sentenced to 40 years in state prison in connection with a 2023 double homicide in which two 23-year-old men were later found buried in a shallow grave on the city’s South Side. The sentence was imposed on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Bexar County district court.

The defendant, Austyn Hartnett, 24, entered a no-contest plea to capital murder of multiple persons and to tampering with evidence. The court accepted the plea and issued the 40-year prison term. The case centered on the deaths of Jeremy Sanchez, 23, and Aaron Espinosa, 23.

Timeline: July 2023 disappearance, evidence recovery, and grave site discovery

Investigators have said the victims were shot on July 20, 2023, in the 1800 block of Lockhill Selma. Family members reported the two men missing the following day.

Police later located an abandoned rental vehicle associated with one of the victims. Officers reported seeing bullet holes and what appeared to be blood inside the car. After those developments, authorities found the victims’ bodies buried in a shallow grave near 105 Mauermann Road, in a wooded area off the South Side.

What prosecutors and police have said about the motive and additional arrests

Authorities have described the case as stemming from a shooting believed to have occurred during a drug deal. Investigators and prosecutors have not publicly detailed all underlying evidence discussed in court, but the plea and sentencing resolve Hartnett’s criminal exposure in this prosecution without a trial verdict.

The investigation also resulted in arrests of three other men: Michael Trevino, Esteban Flores, and Bradlee Grindee. Their cases were not resolved as part of Hartnett’s sentencing, and no single court outcome described here determines their individual guilt or legal status.

How a no-contest plea functions in criminal court

A no-contest plea allows a defendant to accept conviction and sentencing without formally admitting guilt. In practice, it is treated similarly to a guilty plea for purposes of judgment and punishment in the criminal case, while avoiding a trial that would test evidence through witness testimony and cross-examination.

The sentencing closes a key phase of the criminal case while leaving related prosecutions, if any, to proceed separately through the court system.

• Defendant: Austyn Hartnett, 24
• Victims: Jeremy Sanchez, 23; Aaron Espinosa, 23
• Sentence: 40 years in prison
• Plea: no contest to capital murder of multiple persons and tampering with evidence
• Key dates: shooting reported July 20, 2023; missing-person reports filed July 21, 2023; sentencing Feb. 4, 2026