Man, 20, jailed for 25 years after killing his prom date, 17, during consensual ‘rough sex’ after the pair binged on drugs and alcohol

A 20-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for 25 years after killing his 17-year-old prom date during consensual “rough sex”.

Eddie Herrera choked girlfriend Jaqueline Gomez to death after the pair binged on drugs and alcohol on the night of their school party two years ago.

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Herrera, then 18, told cops Gomez has asked him to “squeeze” her neck during consensual sex.

But prosecutors argued that the injury was caused “with intent” because Herrera left haemorrhaging through every layer of Gomez’s neck. Man, 20, jailed for 25 years after killing his prom date, 17, during consensual 'rough sex' after the pair binged on drugs and alcohol

Gomez died in the bed next to Herrera at a Hyatt Hotel in Houston, Texas, on May 16 2014.

She was also found to have the prescription painkiller hydrocodone in her system and a blood alcohol level that was more than three times the legal driving limit.
Medical examiners could not determine whether the teen died as a result of an overdose or of being choked and riled the cause of death “undetermined”.

Although Herrera was not accused of murder, he was convicted of assault someone in a dating relationship, a first-degree felony.

Prosecutors didn’t have to prove he killed Gomez.

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During the investigation it was also revealed that Herrera worked with his mum, Melissa Ann Martinez, to rent the hotel room, get two bottles of whiskey and drugs.

Prosecutor Justin Wood said Martinez gave her son and Gomez ten hydrocodone pills each and set “them up for one heck of a fantastic prom night”.

Herrera told police that he and Gomez drank a bottle and a half of whiskey and took most of the pills before having consensual sex.

He told officers that it was during the sex that Gomez asked him to squeeze her neck.

But prosecutors claimed it was more likely that Herrera choked Gomez until she was unconscious during rough sex.

He then passed out next to her and woke to find her dead.

In a panic, Herrera didn’t call 911 but then called his mum who was due to take the couple home.

Martinez arrived and helped put a nightshirt and tracksuit bottoms on Gomez's body and the pair allegedly waited two hours before calling emergency services.

Martinez admitted to giving both teens drugs during a taped interrogation. She was charged with drug possession and is awaiting trial.

The prosecution argued that Herrera changed his story as cops investigated Gomez's throat injury.

He initially told police that the pair stayed up and talked after they had consensual sex, but later said that he had passed out while choking her.

Police arrested Herrera more than six months after Gomez's death, arguing that his story was inconsistent.

Wood told the court: “With a combination of the alcohol and the hydrocodone, the body was already so depressed that it could not recover from those choking injuries.

“This is just extremely sad because it could've all been prevented.”

The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated for two hours before reaching the guilty verdict yesterday.