Santa Barbara man sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder of his fiancé
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A Santa Barbara man was sentenced to 25 years to life on Friday for strangling his fiancé and mother of their three children to death, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
Omar Leon was sentenced by Judge Brian Hill on Friday for the 2019 murder of his fiancé Lilia Munoz.
On June 3, 2019, Leon strangled and suffocated Munoz to death, and to conceal the crime, he dragged her body into a bathroom closet, according to Deputy District Attorney Megan Chanda.
When Munoz's parents asked where she was, Leon lied to them and said that she had left the house to go out with friends and never returned, Chanda said.
Munoz's body was discovered when her parents came to the house "frantically searching" for their daughter the next day, she added.
Santa Barbara Police officers then arrived to their house on Soledad Street and found that Leon had murdered Munoz and placed her body inside the closet.
Leon had pled guilty to the charge of willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder on Jan. 25, 2022, and was sentenced on Friday.
Many members of Munoz's family made victim impact statements at the sentencing, expressing their love for Munoz and describing the extreme loss they feel, Chanda said.
"Lilia’s children also provided letters to the court, as well as drawings they created for their mother. The love for Lilia was palpable," Chanda continued. "Lilia will never be forgotten."
The Domestic Violence Solutions Crisis Hotline is available 24 hours a day by calling 805-964-5245, and the DA's Office Victim-Witness Assistance Program is available by calling 805-568-2400.
