A Travis County jury has sentenced 38-year-old Victor Javier Orellana-Carranza to 40 years in prison for the murder of 15-year-old Neithan Jadiel Montenegro, who was shot and killed while staying overnight at a friend's Southeast Austin home in May 2025. The teen and a 17-year-old friend had stepped in to stop Orellana-Carranza from assaulting the younger boy's mother, only for the confrontation to end in gunfire.
According to KXAN Austin, Orellana-Carranza came to the home on Hammermill Run looking for his 2-year-old son, whose mother lived there with her 17-year-old son. Police say Orellana-Carranza assaulted the child's mother once inside, and the woman's teenage son and his friend, Montenegro, intervened in the assault, leading to a physical altercation. Orellana-Carranza fled the scene but, according to investigators, threatened to return.
He came back armed with a firearm and opened fire on the two teenagers, according to police. Austin police responded to the home after a 911 caller reported a shooting, per an earlier affidavit, and found Montenegro dead inside the residence. The City of Austin reports that officers were dispatched to the 5700 block of Hammermill Run at 6:41 a.m. on May 4, 2025, and that emergency responders attempted life-saving measures before declaring Montenegro dead at 7:08 a.m.
A Rapid Manhunt Ends in Capture
Montenegro, born July 28, 2009, was less than three months from his 16th birthday and was staying overnight as a guest at his friend's home when the shooting happened, according to the city's account. His death was logged as the 24th homicide investigation Austin police recorded in 2025.
Police say Orellana-Carranza was planning to flee to Honduras after the shooting. The Austin Police Department's Tactical Intelligence Unit tracked him down that same day after discovering the escape attempt, allowing patrol officers to rapidly deploy and make the arrest. Officers found and arrested Orellana-Carranza on May 4, 2025, the same day as the killing.
He was booked into the Travis County Jail and initially held on a $250,000 bond while facing first-degree murder charges, according to KVUE. He was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to serve his time in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Sentencing and What It Means Behind Bars
Orellana-Carranza was sentenced in Travis County's 450th District Court, a felony criminal court that has been presided over by Judge Brad Urrutia since 2017, according to Travis County records. Under Texas Penal Code Section 12.32, murder is a first-degree felony carrying a punishment range of 5 to 99 years or life in prison, so the 40-year term falls within that statutory window.
Because murder is classified as a violent offense under Texas Government Code and Article 42A.054, Orellana-Carranza must serve flat calendar time equal to at least half his sentence before he can be considered for parole, according to Ed Cox Law. That means at least 20 calendar years behind bars before any parole review, with Texas law barring good-conduct time credit from speeding up that eligibility for murder convictions.
A Southeast Austin Neighborhood Grappling With Loss
The shooting took place in the Village Square subdivision in the 78744 ZIP code, a residential pocket of Southeast Austin near East Stassney Lane and South Pleasant Valley Road, per Realty Austin. Hoodline previously reported on the case in the days after the shooting, when Orellana-Carranza was first arrested and charged with first-degree murder while attempting to flee.
The case closed out during a year that saw a marked shift in Austin's overall violence numbers. Austin police recorded 55 homicides in 2025, a 25 percent drop from the 72 homicides logged in 2024, according to Cinco News — a decline that mirrored a broader national trend but did nothing to soften the loss for Montenegro's family and the Southeast Austin community where a 15-year-old died trying to protect a friend's mother.
