LUBBOCK, Texas — Oscar P. Cerna, 45 was in court Wednesday morning to take a plea deal for tampering with evidence, namely a human corpse.
A retaliation charge was dropped in the deal. The case was related to the murder of Jacob Duffee. Cerna was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
His son, Oscar Diaz Cerna took a plea deal in 2021 for murder. The younger Cerna was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Duffee was reported missing by his family, and then a month later he was found dead in a storm drain near 52nd Street and Magnolia Avenue. The younger Cerna shot Duffee (his boss) in the face, court records said. Oscar P. helped his son move the body, court records said.
Oscar P. also sent threatening messages to a woman who provided information to Lubbock Police.
“Text me back or its going to be worse for you,” he texted, and “Your mom took my son away from me for life so I’m going to take you away so we can be even.”
The elder Cerna gets credit for time already served in jail. He appeared in court via video conference from the Lubbock County Detention Center.