Herbert Simon, 42, was sentenced on June 26 after being convicted of murder and aggravated kidnapping at the end of a five-day trial. The sentencing was announced by the District Attorney’s (DA) office.Herbert Simon, 42, was sentenced on June 26 after being convicted of murder and aggravated kidnapping at the end of a five-day trial. The sentencing was announced by the District Attorney’s (DA) office. Simon and Josue Casco were both charged in the December 2017 shooting deaths of Robert Cerda and Rachel Delarosa. Casco, the other suspect charged with murder, remains in federal custody after receiving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. He has not yet appeared in court. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Cerda and Delarosa were on a date in Spring Branch on the night of the shooting. They were with friends at a barbershop in northwest Houston at the time of the incident. Simon, who was inside the barbershop, pulled out a gun and shot Cerda while he was using the restroom, according to the police. The men then forcibly took Delarosa into the building and held her against her will. Casco later drove her to a remote location in Fort Bend County where he killed her. She sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her back, head, and neck. Simon and Casco are also suspected of dumping Cerda’s body in north Houston. Delarosa’s body was discovered on the night of the shooting, while Cerda’s body was found the following day. Authorities believe that Casco suspected Cerda of involvement in a robbery at his sister’s home. Casco and Simon both have extensive criminal histories. Simon was arrested in 2018 for evading arrest and returned to prison due to a probation violation stemming from an aggravated robbery conviction in 2004. Casco was arrested in 2020 in an IKEA parking lot after undercover investigators uncovered a scheme to sell over $100,000 worth of methamphetamine. During his arrest, Casco rammed a police vehicle. A tipster who was present at the barbershop during the shooting, assisted in disposing of the bodies, and was arrested with Casco on federal drug charges provided information that led police to Simon and Casco in 2022, as per the District Attorney’s office. In August 2021, almost four years after the shooting, police executed a search warrant at the barbershop and discovered bloodstained floorboards and bullet holes.
Herbert Simon, 42, was sentenced June 26 after being found guilty of murder and aggravated kidnapping at the end of a five-day trial, according to the DA’s office. Simon was one of two men charged in the December 2017 shooting deaths of Robert Cerda and Rachel Delarosa. The other man charged with murder, Josue Casco, has not appeared in court but is in federal custody after being sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Cerda and Delarosa had been on a date in Spring Branch the night of the shooting and were with friends at a barbershop in northwest Houston at the time of the shooting.
Cerda went into the store to use the restroom, and while he was there, Simon, who was inside, pulled out a gun and shot him, police said. The men then took Delarosa into the building and held her against her will until Casco drove her to a rural part of Fort Bend County and killed her, prosecutors said. She was shot multiple times in the back, head and neck, police said.
Casco and Simon are also believed to have dumped Cerda’s body in north Houston.
Delarosa’s body was found the night of the shooting. Cerda was found the next day.
According to authorities, Casco suspected that Cerda was involved in a robbery at his sister’s home.
Both Casco and Simon had been in prison for years before they were charged with murder.
Simon was arrested in 2018 for evading arrest, according to court records. He was sent back to prison after that arrest because he was on probation following a 2004 aggravated robbery conviction, according to court records.
In October 2020, Casco was arrested in an IKEA parking lot after undercover investigators learned of a scheme to sell more than $100,000 worth of meth, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Prosecutors said Casco rammed a police vehicle as authorities approached to arrest him.
A tipster — another man who was in the barbershop during the shooting, helped dump the bodies and was arrested with Casco on federal drug charges — pointed police to Casco and Simon in 2022, the district attorney’s office said.
According to court documents, in August 2021, nearly four years after the shooting, police found bloodstained floorboards and bullet holes in the barbershop when they served a search warrant there.
