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A 49-year-old Mission man has pleaded guilty to fatally beating a man who went missing in early May 2024.

Samuel Uvalle Sr. was charged with the murder of Juan Carlos Hernandez de Leon after he was found buried in a barrel at a residence in Edinburg and beaten to death.

Samuel Uvalle Sr. pleaded guilty to murder Monday morning and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to court records.

Both Samuel Uvalle Sr. and his son, 24-year-old Samuel Uvalle Jr., were indicted on three federal counts of bringing in and harboring people illegally present in the United States the same year.

On Sept. 20, 2024, Samuel Uvalle Sr. was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison while his son received a little over a year after the duo pleaded guilty to those charges, according to federal court records.

However, three other suspects were initially charged for the murder of Hernandez as well.

Monica Victoria Gomez, 43, Roberto Salas, 38, and Jesus Grijalva Jr., 45, were also charged for the death of Hernandez.

On May 27, 2025, Gomez was given 10 years probation after pleading guilty to tampering or fabricating with physical evidence with intent to impair.

According to her indictment, she had concealed a cellphone to impair its availability in the investigation.

Salas, who was a fugitive at the time of the investigation into Hernandez’s death, was arrested on Oct. 6, 2024, and indicted Nov. 12, 2024 and was charged with murder and tampering or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse.

Grijalva was indicted on Sept. 3, 2024, on the same charges.

Salas and Grijalva are currently scheduled for trial in October and September, respectively. They have pleaded not guilty.

Hernandez had gone missing on May 6, 2024 and then on May 15, 2024 investigators searching for him obtained information regarding a man named “Joker” — who was later identified as Grijalva — was using a tractor to bury something at 4610 E. Wisconsin Road in Edinburg, so they executed a search warrant on May 17, 2024 according to a probable cause affidavit.

It was there they found Hernandez’s body.

Witnesses told investigators that Samuel Uvalle Sr. began to argue with Hernandez at a residence located at 1913 Morningset Road in San Juan around 4 a.m. on May 7, 2024.

United States Marshal Service and Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies had been conducting surveillance at the San Juan residence when they saw six people exit the home and walk to a nearby restaurant where they were contacted by a Border Patrol agent.

Those people freely admitted to being illegally present in the country and stated that a “young male armed with a longarm (sic) was at the residence,” according to a federal criminal complaint.

Authorities observed Samuel Uvalle Jr. leave the residence and followed him to the Edinburg location where they confronted him. It was there that Samuel Uvalle Jr. admitted to knowing the six people were illegally present and that he didn’t want them at the residence.

Samuel Uvalle Jr. was taken to the Weslaco Border Patrol Station where he declined to speak.

However, two Guatemalan citizens spoke to police and stated that Samuel Uvalle Sr. and Samuel Uvalle Jr. were the caretakers of the stash house and that three of the six people there had been threatened by Samuel Uvalle Sr.

They added that “…at one point during their stay, (they) heard someone being beaten,” according to the federal complaint.

“Samuel Uvalle (Sr.) started to assault Juan Carlos with a hammer,” the affidavit stated. “Roberto Salas and Jesus Grijalva joined Samuel Uvalle (Sr.) on the assault. Jesus Grijalva Jr. utilized a hammer tool to assault Juan Carlos.”

The men then put Hernandez in a barrel, transported him to the Edinburg property and buried him.