Pair Sentenced for Killing Two in East Texas

HENDERSON (AP) – Authorities say two men have pleaded guilty to a double slaying in which the victims were shot and dumped along a road in East Texas last year. The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office on Friday said that 24-year-old Drake Dario Blanton, of Cushing, was sentenced to life in prison for each victim. Twenty-five-year-old Jason Terell Hunt, of Jacksonville, received 35 years in prison for his role in the January 2010 murders. The victims, 29-year-old Rigoberto Tovar Pina and 27-year-old Steve Abran Parra, both of Center, died from gunshot wounds. Blanton and Hunt were arrested five days after the shooting in a vehicle that belonged to Pina. Sgt. Viki Penny says Blanton’s thumbprint on a spent shell case helped state and local authorities quickly solve the case.