BOERNE — Andrew Like only needed a few seconds to turn a car into a deadly weapon when he intentionally drove off Interstate 10 West and killed his mother in a crash, prosecutors said. A Kendall County jury took just a little longer — 30 minutes — to find the 44-year-old man guilty on a charge of murder in the death of Ann Like.
The son’s three-day trial, which ended Oct. 27, was the first murder case tried before the 451st State District Court since its creation Jan. 1, 2016.
Like received a 28-year sentence in state prison for the first-degree felony; the case that claimed his mother’s life occurred in March 2015.
“That deadly weapon of a car – that deadly weapon of a motor vehicle – is going to become Ann’s coffin,” Assistant Criminal District Attorney Manuel Cardenas said during opening statements.
According to a crash report from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Like was driving his mother’s new 2015 Honda CR-V west on I-10 from Boerne to Comfort when the vehicle ran off road, went down an embankment, crossed Rust Road, traveled through Joshua Creek, flipped and then came to rest.
Like’s mother was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kendall County Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Alessandra Deike and Cardenas argued Like intentionally wrecked the vehicle to kill his mother.
“You still have enough velocity to go down a creek bed and go back up. Why were the brakes never applied?” Cardenas asked, noting the gas pedal never let up the entire 707 feet from the where the car left the roadway to the site of the fatal crash.
“He punched it. He punched it,” Cardenas told the court. “He’s arguing, and he punched it. You’re going to learn the gas pedal is going to be fully compressed, 99 percent, he’s stepping all the way on that pedal.”
As prosecutors called several witnesses, Ann Like’s two sisters sat in the courtroom. One held tightly to a stuffed frog which Ann had given to her, and the other listened intensely, jotting down notes in a large notebook.
Jesse Ybarra testified he was driving behind Andrew Like that night, saying he maneuvered around the Honda because it moved along about 55 mph in a 70-mph zone.
Ybarra testified he was certain the crash was no accident.
“That couldn’t have been an accident. There’s no way that could’ve been an accident,” Ybarra told the court. “Vehicles don’t just do that. Somebody has to control the vehicle to go in that direction. I mean, the vehicle never slowed down. Even if a vehicle malfunctions, it’s not just going to do that.”
Ybarra was the first person to dial 911 and the call to the dispatcher was played in court for the jury.
“He was talking on the phone, and it looked like he just yanked on the wheel and drove off the road,” Ybarra told emergency operators.
Like’s brother, Eric Like, offered a strong case supporting the state’s claims, noting text messages he received from his brother after the accident.
“‘Guess what. I can actually black out and not be responsible for my actions when I get mad per Texas DPS (Department of Public Safety),’” said the text messages, which were displayed in court. “When U (sic) get your bigboy pants on, come on down to Kent State and see if you are brave as mom was.”
After the conviction and sentencing, the brother addressed the court and read a victim-impact statement. At one point he stopped, and Cardenas laid a comforting hand on his back.
“I lost my mother on March 26, 2015, and it was devastating. I thought about that day every day since. Our mother was an incredibly kind and good person,” Like said.
He added, “You mocked her both in front of her face and behind her back and sent her bullying messages that cut her to her core. You berated her and brought her to tears. Know that until the day of her death, she worried about you. She drove around the city hoping to find you. ... Even when you pushed her away, she cared for you.”
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