An Allentown woman will spend up to a decade in prison for her role in the 2024 killing of a Palmerton man outside a Whitehall Township store.
Liz Marie Pacheco, 38, was sentenced Wednesday to five to 10 years in prison for the Dec. 7, 2024, killing of Hector Garcia Gomez, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said in a news release. Pacheco pleaded guilty to third-degree murder.
As part of her plea agreement, the remainder of her charges, which included aggravated assault and tampering with evidence, were withdrawn. Holihan noted the sentence took into account her lack of a criminal record and her cooperation in the investigation.
Pacheco is one of three people charged in the homicide. Garcia Gomez’s wife, Brenda Rodriguez, 52, pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault in the case. Pacheco’s ex-partner, Christian Martinez-Ramos, 35, remains charged with homicide and is scheduled to go to trial next month.
Garcia Gomez was fatally shot in the parking lot of Loco Hot Deals at 1155 MacArthur Road.
Rodriguez gave her husband’s location to Pacheco, who then provided it to Martinez-Ramos, according to authorities. Garcia Gomez left the store and was getting into his car when Martinez-Ramos parked behind him and shot him multiple times, the DA’s office said.
Rodriguez was aware her husband was having an affair with a woman who lived in Allentown. Pacheco and Martinez-Ramos lived near that woman, and Pacheco told Rodriguez about the affair, police said. Garcia Gomez was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries about an hour after the shooting.
Before he died, he told the woman that “the guy from upstairs shot me,” police said. Garcia Gomez and Martinez-Ramos had a prior altercation before the incident.
Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
