American woman of Texas found guilty of murder of Hispanic tourist

Lysa Dykes faces up to life in prison for the death of Marisela Botello

By Edward Era Barbacena 

After deliberating about two hours Wednesday, a Dallas County jury found Lisa Dykes guilty of murder in the death of 23-year-old Marisela Botello.

Dykes was also found guilty of a second charge, tampering with a corpse.

The sentencing phase of the trial began immediately after the verdict was read. Dykes faces up to life in prison for Botello's murder.

Day 7 of the trial began Wednesday morning with Dykes back on the stand in her defense. The defense rested mid-morning and after closing arguments, the jury was handed the case shortly before noon. After deliberating for about two hours, they announced they'd reached a unanimous verdict.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by NBC 5, Dallas Police said Botello traveled to Dallas from Seattle to visit a friend in October 2020. Botello's family said she was last seen leaving a Deep Ellum bar on Oct. 5, 2020. Her body was found about six months later in a wooded area near Wilmer.

Three people, Lisa Dykes, Nina Marano and Charles Beltran were originally charged with murder in Botello's death. Dykes was indicted in June 2021 by a Dallas County grand jury along with Marano and Beltran, who was a person of interest in the case early on. Marano and Dykes were arrested in Florida and Beltran was taken into custody in Utah.

On Friday, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office filed motions to dismiss prosecution against Nina Marano and Charles Beltran "in the interest of justice," dropping the murder charges against them. Those documents were released Monday morning. The Dallas County DA's Office has not said why they asked for the charges to be dropped.

Both Beltran and Marano testified during Dykes murder trial.