By james art Michael Roseboril’s nomadic lifestyle ended in Lubbock after the birth of his son.
He grew up in Florida and as an adult spent years living and working between Colorado, Florida and Michigan.
According to his obituary, he worked in business management, audio, video and graphic design, mechanical and electrical work, stunning motorcycles and carpentry and construction.
In the summer of 2016, he moved to Lubbock after he started dating Cindy Castilha. Two years later, their son was born.
Around the time Roseboril moved to Lubbock, 23-year-old Maria Rodriguez, who was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for Roseboril’s 2022 death, began a nomadic lifestyle of her own.
At 15, she ran away from her foster mother’s abuser and began living with friends and stealing to survive.
Deadly encounter in downtown Lubbock
Roseboril and Rodriguez’s paths would cross on July 8, 2022, when Rodriguez walked into Lluvia’s Imports in the 2400 block of 34th Street, where Roseboril worked. She shoplifted about $50 worth of laundry.
When Rodriguez tried to drive off in a white Cadillac Escalade, Roseboril jumped on the hood of the vehicle to stop her.
However, Rodriguez continued driving until he reached the intersection of 35th Street and Avenue X, where Roseboril was thrown from the SUV and fell to the ground, hitting his head. He died on the spot.
Dr. Stacey Murty, a forensic pathologist, told jurors the fall likely fractured Roseboril’s skull, causing a brain hemorrhage.
Rodriguez would be identified as the shoplifter soon after investigators discovered video from nearby security cameras that showed her driving away from the store with Roseboril on the hood of the car.
Trial in Lubbock Court
Rodriguez, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since July 10, 2022, was initially charged with criminal homicide.
However, prosecutors presented an aggravated robbery indictment to jurors two weeks before her trial in the 140th District Court, which began on Monday, October 21.
Aggravated robbery carries the same penalty as murder – five years to life in prison.
Rodriguez did not testify during the trial, but jurors watched the 52-minute video of her interview with detectives.
In the video, Rodriguez admitted to stealing the items, saying she went to the store intending to buy laundry supplies but decided to steal the items instead.
“I had money in my pocket,” she said.
She told forensics she did not recognize Rozboril, who has worked at the store for more than a year, as an employee.
However, she told detectives she offered to pay for the stolen merchandise, but Roseboril told her, “I don’t want your (expletive) money” and began hitting the windshield with what she initially thought was a knife.
A responding officer told jurors that Roseboril had a flashlight in his hands when he was found at the scene.
The jury was shown photos of the Escalade’s windshield, which had several spider web cracks.
The video shows Rozboril hitting the windshield of the car as it reverses and moves forward.
Rodriguez could be heard telling detectives that she did not speed off or stop to get Roseboril out of her car.
She said she continued driving after Roseboril fell out of her car.
“I haven’t looked back,” she said.
During closing arguments, Rodriguez’s attorney, Chris Wanner, told jurors that his client’s intent in walking away was not to get away with the stolen items, which is part of the language in the indictment against her. Instead, he said he was out of fear of Roseboril’s actions.
“In this case, fight or flight has begun,” he said. “Maria chose the escape, and Mr. Rozboril – the fight.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that based on Rodriguez’s statements to police, she knew driving with Roseboril on the hood of her car was dangerous, but did it anyway.
“If she doesn’t know it’s dangerous, if she doesn’t know driving on the hood is a life-threatening act, why is she so adamant about not breaking or going ‘super fast’?” said prosecutor Laura Beth Fawcett. “Because he knows that the act is dangerous.”
Fawcett told jurors that Roseboril was legally justified, despite the store’s policy, in stopping Rodriguez from shoplifting that day.
She said investigators never found a phone in Roseboril’s body, indicating he had no way to call police to report the robbery. Instead, he probably believed he should hold her and then call the police.
She said when Rodriguez drove off, Roseboril was pinned on the hood of that car and was holding on for dear life.
“(Rosboril) jumping on the hood of the car was not the cause of his death,” Fawcett told jurors. “What caused his death is that she made this decision right then, ‘I stole these products, I have to get out of this situation.’
“Are there no other options but to drive off with a person on the hood of your car when you know that’s scary, that’s dangerous,” she said.
Jurors deliberated for about five hours – at one point telling the court they were deadlocked – before returning with a verdict convicting Rodriguez of aggravated robbery.
Interrupted life of a father
During the penalty phase of the trial, jurors learned the heartbreaking reason for Roseboril’s actions that day.
Although the couple’s relationship ended a year after the birth of their son, Castileja said Roseboril remained in Lubbock for their child.
She said fatherhood gave Rozboril purpose and he wanted to pass on his knowledge to his son.
“That joy he got from being a father; it was a really beautiful thing to see,” Castilha said. “A lot of people don’t have that connection.”
Roseboril’s sister, Lindsey LeBlanc, told jurors she had never seen her brother as happy as he was when he was with his son.
Castilleja said that although Roseboril was not under a court order to pay child support, he contributed financially to help raise their son.
“He wanted to be with his son, he wanted to be the kind of parent anyone wants for their child,” she said. “He stood up for what was right, even when it wasn’t easy.”
However, she said sometimes his salary would not be enough to help with their child because his employers would deduct the cost of any stolen items from his salary.
“Anything that was lost, belongings that were taken, they would deduct it from him,” Castilha said.
Fawcett said after the trial that Roseboril was likely forced to stop Rodriguez because her actions meant a loss of money for his son.
“That definitely influenced Mr. Roseboril’s decision to jump on the hood of that car,” she said.
Rodriguez, who had a previous conviction for unauthorized use of a vehicle, was ineligible for probation and faced five years to life in prison.
Fawcett did not ask jurors for a specific number of years to send Rodriguez away.
Instead, she asked jurors to think about Roseboril’s son when deciding Rodriguez’s punishment.
“When he gets older and understands the weight of the way his father passed from this world, when you look into (the boy’s) eyes and that’s the punishment that we, the jury, gave to the woman who took your father away from you,” she said.
Castilha told jurors that her son, a bright, energetic boy, still wants his father.
“He wants to carve pumpkins with it, he wants to do Halloween stuff,” she said.
She said her son sees his classmates coming home from their fathers or hears them talk about the time they spent with their fathers.
“He knows he’s different,” she said. “He won’t have that again because he doesn’t have his father anymore.”
Rodriguez’s attorney, Haley Hickey, asked jurors to take into account her client’s difficult childhood, saying she is remorseful and asking for a five-year prison sentence.
“It hurts her that someone else has to grow up without a father,” she said.
Jurors deliberated for about an hour before returning to the courtroom with a sentence of 10 years in prison.
After the sentence was announced, Castileja stood before Rodriguez and asked her to serve her time in prison continuing to improve her life and be a positive influence.
“That’s the only way I feel like you’re going to be whole,” she said.
This article originally appeared in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Woman sentenced to 10 years in fatal downtown Lubbock robbery