In a somber revelation, the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office announced on social media that Joseph Aparicio, 31, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the 2023 murder of 19-year-old Janeecia "Nene" Mason.
Law enforcement discovered Mason's body on March 23, 2023, under a bridge by the Trinity River in Fort Worth, having suffered two fatal gunshot wounds to the head, with evidence of the crime extending to Aparicio's Haltom City bedroom where her clothes and bloodstains were found; the DA cited surveillance footage, cell phone data, and witness testimonies that implicated Aparicio in Mason's death.
According to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, during the sentencing, the victim's mother confronted Aparicio, asserting the collective grief and love that define her daughter's memory, decrying the lack of consideration for this by the perpetrator, as she stated, "Nene was very loved and you didn't think about that," she also expressed the mourning family's resilience, stating "We have made it through this by relying on each other and God."
The DA's office extended gratitude to Detective Sones of the Fort Worth Police Department and the Carrollton Police Department, as well as ADAs Bill Vassar and Allenna Bangs, Investigator Matt Hardy, and Victim Coordinator Candace Burnett for their exhaustive efforts in the investigation and trial, recognizing the collaborative effort of these individuals and entities in securing justice for the victim and her family despite the grimness of the crime and the attendant sorrow enveloped their community.
