Local
Man sentenced to 20 years in killing of Dallas ISD aide Jennifer Mendez Olascoaga
Sixto Banegas Matute was sentenced Oct. 13 after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Mendez Olascoaga, a 24-year-old Dallas resident and Dallas ISD teacher’s aide. Investigators traced phone records that placed both their phones near where her remains were found in Mesquite.
Sixto Banegas Matute was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Oct. 13 after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Jennifer Mendez Olascoaga, a 24-year-old Dallas resident who worked as a Dallas ISD teacher’s aide.
Mendez Olascoaga disappeared in September 2023. Her family said she was last seen about 8:11 p.m. on Sept. 27, leaving a mobile home park along Highway 175 in Seagoville. Her car was found abandoned the next morning on Lawson Road, without her purse or phone.
In mid-October, human remains were discovered in a wooded area along Lawson Road near Interstate 20 in Mesquite. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the remains as Mendez Olascoaga the following month. An autopsy determined her death was a homicide.
An arrest affidavit said investigators found hair, bones and a torso scattered in the area, along with small bullet fragments in the hair. Phone records obtained during the investigation showed calls and messages between Mendez Olascoaga and Matute around the time she was seen at a QuikTrip near Highway 175 and Belt Line Road. Investigators said the two phones registered in the same area along I-20 within seconds of each other, and later registered near where the remains were found.
Matute was arrested on Jan. 10, 2024, and remained jailed until sentencing. He had spent more than 1,000 days in custody by Oct. 13, according to the sentencing report.