Should Killers With a Violence Gene Get Lighter Sentences?
Anthony Blas Yepez killed a man. Is his DNA to blame?
In 2015, Anthony Blas Yepez was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison after killing George Ortiz, his girlfriend’s step-grandfather.
Three years prior, Yepez and his girlfriend were living with Ortiz when, according to testimony, Ortiz hit Yepez’s girlfriend in the face. Yepez says he isn’t sure what happened next but that he “must have blacked out.” When he came to, he was on top of Ortiz, who was bleeding and appeared to be dead. Yepez and his girlfriend then poured cooking oil on the victim, lit him on fire, and fled the scene in Ortiz’s car.
Now, Yepez’s lawyer, Helen Bennett, is seeking a retrial for her client — and she’s relying on an unusual argument: that Yepez is genetically inclined to act violently due to the “warrior gene.”
Specifically, Bennett is arguing that Yepez has low levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA). Some research implies that people with low MAOA do not regulate chemicals in the brain properly, which can result in abnormal aggression. Later this year, the New Mexico Supreme Court is expected to review the case.
“Now is the time for courts to begin to analyze this intersection…
