Killer of Bend teens Angela Pastorino, Alfredo Hernandez sentenced to life without parole
'I don't think we can ever fix the holes left in our hearts,' victim's younger sister says
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – At the close of a heart-wrenching, emotional hearing, a Deschutes County judge sentenced a Bend man to life in prison without any possibility of parole Friday afternoon for killing an 18-year-old couple last summer, a brutal crime that shocked the community.
Speaking to the family members in the courtroom, Deschutes County Circuit Judge Wells Ashby said, “There’s no sentence this court can impose that would change the pain that you feel. If there's anything this court could do to relieve your suffering, it would do it. We all know the pain of losing someone. The manner of which these families lost their children is stunning.”
Wesley Abel Brady, 41, who entered a negotiated plea deal on Wednesday, stared ahead in a video hookup from the jail, never appearing to change expressions or show emotion, first as a prosecutor laid out some new details of how he first struck Alfredo Hernandez repeatedly with a piece of wood he found, then attacked his girlfriend, Angela “Angie” Pastorino, who had come to Alfredo’s defense, trying to protect him.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Anderson said the young couple had gone to a home on Mount Faith Place to help the homeowner remove carpet and do other work around the house. Brady also was at the home, and all four were consuming alcohol late the night of August 16, 2022.
The homeowner went to bed and awakened the next day to find Angie’s support dog, “known not to leave her side, was outside her front door.” She later found Pastorino’s cellphone was under a bush outside her home. Brady and the homeowner “had a fairly average day at that point,” Anderson said, until Brady left, and the woman found a body in her garage, calling police. Officers found the second body there later.
Based on what Brady told police, a dispute ensued between Brady and Hernandez, and Brady struck him several times, until incapacitated – “until done,” she quoted him as saying, “using a piece of wood that happened to be in the area.” Anderson said she “tried to intervene and tried to protect” Hernandez, and to stop the attack.
“She fought back,” the prosecutor said. “At one point, she actually bit him,” but he strangled her, using his forearm to apply pressure to the neck. “When that wasn’t working, she tried to reason with him and asked him not to do this,” she said.
Both victims’ mothers had statements read in court by Deputy DA Brandi Shroyer. First was brief, from Alfredo’s mother, Pamela Houser, who Shroyer said could not bring herself to attend: “All she said was, ‘I want the court to know: I hope he gets what he gave.”
Angie’s mother, Jennifer Grigg, was in the courtroom, but also had Shroyer read her statement about the impact on their lives, speaking of wanting people to always remember her daughter.
“I have so many pictures of her, but I don’t have her,” she said, calling Angie “a charmer” while also praising Alfredo as “a strong, bright and caring young man” who had never left Oregon until he joined Angie’s family on trips to Washington, California and Yellowstone.
Some days are harder than others, Grigg wrote, when “I look at pictures and videos of her all day."
Grigg said she has a tapestry hanging that was made from a photo of the couple, and sometimes, “when the sun comes up, it shines on it in a way that her eyes light up, like she’s really there.”
Angie’s 17-year-old sister, Allie (Alyson), was devastated by what happened, Grigg wrote, but “Angie was fierce. She wouldn’t want me to be sad. She would want me to be alright.”
Alyson then rose and spoke to the court, through many tears.
“I should be in class right now, enjoying being with my classmates,” she said. “When I do go in, I have so much anxiety. I sit around. I barely leave the house every day. I don’t want to go to people’s houses any more. I dropped every friend. They don’t understand.
“My sister’s gone, and I’ll never be okay. I’m lost and scared and sad all the time. I should be enjoying my last year in school, getting ready to go to college.”
“This monster took away the bright young person I was, and left an empty shell,” Allie said, voice broken. “All because this monster took my sister from me. I'll never forget what you've done, not only for taking my sister, but all you've taken from my family and friends.”
"Our family is broken now, and I don't think we can ever fix the holes left in our hearts,” the teen said.
Brady continued staring sternly, seriously ahead.
Brady’s defense attorney, Lisa Valenta, said her client has never denied what he did, ever since the night of his arrest, but that mental health issues delayed this conclusion. She said he did not want the families to be put through the added pain of a trial.
“If Mr. Brady could go back in time, I’m 110 percent sure he’d have made different choices in that moment,” she said. “But what’s done cannot be undone.”
Brady himself struck a similar tone, when it was his time to speak.
“Your honor, no amount of ‘sorry’ can bring back a life,” he said.
“I want them to know I'm truly sorry for the situation that went down that night,” he said. “I tried hard to paint a picture that put every bit of blame on me. Although not fully the truth, people can't handle the truth, and that’s a shame.”
“I hope the family can properly grieve and know that their children are in a better place,” he added.
The judge, as always, had the last words.
“Ms. Grigg, you mentioned thinking about your daughter’s smile and the brightness that was her life. Alyson, you talked about the sorrow and fear that you’re suffering,” he said.
“It’s this court’s greatest hope that piece by piece, that hole can be filled by the light that was her life, and not the suffering that was her death.”
Ashby thanked the families for sharing glimpses of the two teen’s lives with the community in the courtroom.
“This court hopes that amid the sorrow and that fear, that each day, you are able to take a step toward the light that was taken from you.”
