A 21-year-old Galena Park man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to murder for shooting an acquaintance, putting his body in the backseat of a car and pushing the car into Hunting Bayou, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“The victim was a friend of the killer’s family and was killed in a pointless and unwarranted shooting,” Ogg said. “And now the victim’s family has to pick up the pieces after losing someone they loved and cherished.”

Isaac Sims pleaded guilty to murder for killing 42-year-old Luis Carlos Flores on April 28, 2018. Sims was facing life in prison and pleaded guilty in exchange for a 35-year sentence. He cannot appeal the conviction or the punishment, and he must serve at least half of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Sims and Flores, who had known each other for years and both lived in Galena Park, met up on the night of the murder. There was evidence that Sims was helping Flores sell a pair of pistols. While they were both sitting in the car Flores had driven to the meeting, Sims shot the older man in the head and chest and pushed the car into Hunting Bayou along Dunaway Street and Federal Road.

After the car was found and pulled out of the bayou, detectives with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office found Sims’ DNA on the gearshift and in the dead man’s back pocket. Witnesses also said Sims had told them that he killed Flores.

Assistant District Attorney Casey Little prosecuted the case with ADA Chris Condon, who are both part of the Homicide Division of the DA’s Office.

“We are coming up on the fifth anniversary of the shooting, so the family was ready to put this behind them,” Little said. “They were glad they finally got justice for this murder.”