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EDINBURG — A McAllen man pleaded guilty Monday to killing his 92-year-old great grandmother and was sentenced to five years in prison.

James Bryan Whisenant, 28, pleaded guilty to murder for killing Jimmie Whisenant and was sentenced to five years in prison after his grandfather, the victim’s son, asked for the judge’s mercy.

At Whisenant’s plea hearing, his defense attorney, Carlos A. Garcia reminded Judge Juan Ramon Alvarez that Whisenant was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was experiencing those mental health issues at the time of the murder.

Whisenant had pinched his great-grandmother’s nose and covered her mouth with his other hand, suffocating her to death on Nov. 7, 2017.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Whisenant stated he fell asleep at about 7 p.m. the night before but woke up between 3 and 4 a.m. standing over his great-grandmother’s bed with his right hand pinching her nose shut and his left hand covering her mouth.

“Mr. Whisenant stated that he did not know why he was suffocating Ms. Whisenant but he could not stop suffocating (her),” the affidavit said.

The document goes on to say that the victim woke up and began to struggle, causing her to fall out of bed where Whisenant re-positioned himself and continued suffocating her until she stopped moving.

Prosecutors argued that even though their medical expert also found Whisenant to suffer from a mental illness, they also stated that Whisenant knew what he was doing was wrong and asked the judge to sentence him to 20 years in prison.

Garcia then called up Whisenant’s grandfather, Bert Whisenent Jr., the son of the victim, to speak on Whisenant’s behalf.

Bert stated that his mother was severely ill with Alzheimer’s and suffered from dementia.

“You question why,” Bert said. “Only God knows why.”

Whisenant’s grandfather expressed remorse for his grandson and the death of his mother, adding that all his family wants is to move on with their lives and leave this chapter behind.

“We’re requesting the court to let James live on,” Bert said. “We just want what’s best for James.”

Alvarez expressed sympathy toward Whisenant due to his schizophrenia that caused him to hallucinate and hear voices in his head, referencing the prosecutors’ retelling of the events of that fateful night.

Whisenant had told police that he heard a voice in his head telling him to drive to Rio Grande City where he was stopped for speeding before being let go.

That voice also told him to drive to the McAllen Police Department, but he never got out of his vehicle.

Whisenant drove home where police already were and turned himself in, telling police that he was the one who killed his great-grandmother.

Alvarez stated he would’ve liked to have given Whisenant probation since his family just wanted him to come home, but the law didn’t allow for it.

Instead, Alvarez sentenced him to a minimum of five years in prison.

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