Tyler man pleads guilty to 2019 murder; victim was stabbed 22 times

TYLER – A Tyler man pleaded guilty Thursday to murder in the 2019 death of another man, who was stabbed 22 times. According to our news partner KETK, Humberto Lauro Leal, 42, is expected to be sentenced May 16. A Smith County detective found Luis Rene Maruffo-Castaneda in the driver seat of a car. He was dead and covered in blood. Officials interviewed Leal, who said he stabbed Castaneda in self-defense. Leal was shot in his lower abdomen and was taken to UT Health East Texas. When he was first interviewed, Leal said he stabbed Castaneda four times and that Castaneda was standing when he fired the gun, but this did not match what officials discovered. Leal later told officials the men were arguing earlier that day at a different place. They had also had a fight six months before the murder.