A man’s future is all but sealed after he was convicted and sentenced for the “brutal” murder of a business owner in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Juan Carlos Hernandez, aged 22, was sentenced to a life term in prison plus an additional 21 years for the murder of 45-year-old Sihui Fang in January 2022, as announced by Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman on Wednesday. In August 2024, he was convicted by a jury of charges including first-degree murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy.

Hernandez entered Fang’s establishment, Wonderful Massage, on January 24, 2022, pretending to be a client. He then coerced her into allowing his accomplice, Jorge Rivera-Ramirez, to enter, leading both men to rob her, as reported by CBS affiliate KRQE at the time.

Surveillance footage inside Fang’s business shows Hernandez taking hold of Fang by her hair and dragging her to the building’s rear, where the execution-style murder took place, according to the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors argued that Hernandez was the main aggressor in the planned robbery. At the time, Hernandez was 19 and Rivera-Ramirez was 18.

“This is where the violence begins, and Mr. Hernandez never stops being violent, not once,” stated prosecutor Jordan Machin during the trial, as depicted in a KRQE video of Hernandez holding Fang at gunpoint.

The surveillance footage showed Fang trying to run away from her captors, but Hernandez pulled her back toward him. When she reportedly grabbed a gun to defend herself, she was shot 18 times by the men.

According to the local outlet, Fang managed to fire her gun before she was killed, and Rivera-Ramirez called 911 for medical help from gunshot wounds. Hernandez is said to have run away, and he wasn’t booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center until Feb. 8, 2022, court records show.

Rivera-Ramirez was sentenced in April of this year to life in prison plus 18 years, Bregman – the district attorney – announced at the time.

Fang was remembered as “a once-in-a-lifetime incredible human being.”

“This beautiful, amazing person was taken from us when she was killed in a robbery at her business,” her obituary read. “The world has lost the brightest of lights, and we have lost a gentle, caring, loving soul who literally had a heart of gold. We will keep her in our hearts and will miss her forever.”

Hernandez apologized in court, saying he was “ashamed of my actions but making the first steps as a young man, asking for your sincere forgiveness.”