Deschutes County Presiding Judge Wells B. Ashby, right, sentences Wesley Abel Brady, on video, to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, for the murder of 18-year-old Bend residents Angela Alexus Pastorino and Alfredo P. Hernandez in August.

BEND — Convicted murderer Wesley Abel Brady was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing 18-year-old Bend residents Angela Alexus Pastorino and Alfredo P. Hernandez in August.

The sentencing in Deschutes County Circuit Court on Friday, Feb. 17, was packed with more than a dozen people, including loved ones of the victims.

Mary Anderson, Deschutes County chief deputy district attorney, gave the first detailed, public account of what happened. Much of it came directly from Brady, 41, who disclosed in interviews with law enforcement officers that he killed the teenage couple. Brady pleaded guilty to the crimes Feb. 15.

Brady said he got into an argument with Pastorino and Hernandez at a home on Mount Faith Place in Bend, Anderson told the court. They had been working at the home on Aug. 16, removing carpet, and were drinking together that night.

When the argument turned into a fight, Anderson said Brady struck Hernandez repeatedly with a piece of wood. In Brady’s confession, he told officers he struck Hernandez “until he was done,” Anderson said.

Meanwhile, Pastorino, who Anderson described as around 5-feet-3-inches tall and “petite,” fought back, trying to stop Brady.

“What we know from all the evidence is that Angie Pastorino did fight to protect Alfredo Hernandez,” Anderson told the court. “And she did fight to protect herself.”

Brady then turned on Pastorino, strangling her by placing his forearm on her neck while she hit back and bit him, Anderson told the court. Pastorino tried to reason with him, asking him not to do this to her, not to harm her.

The following day, Brady spent an “average” day with the homeowner, Melissa Adams, Anderson said.

Brady told Adams the two teens had gone home. Eventually, he left.

Meanwhile, family members reported the teenagers missing.

Adams later told investigators she found Pastorino’s support dog outside her door. This confused her, Anderson said, because the dog would never leave Pastorino’s side. Adams then found Pastorino’s phone in a bush. Adams found the body of one victim and police the other.

Brady returned to the home that night and was arrested.

Before he sentenced Brady, Deschutes County Presiding Judge Wells B. Ashby took a moment to speak to the family members in the courtroom, several of whom sat in the front row and shed tears during the day’s proceedings.

“If there was anything this court could do to relieve your suffering, it would do it,” Ashby said. However, he added: “This court hopes that you can find relief moving forward.”

Brady, who waived his right to an appeal and trial, appeared by video at the sentencing to apologize for murdering the teens. At the conclusion of his statement to the court, Brady, looking stern, his brow furrowed, said: “I hope the family can properly grieve and know that their children are in a better place.”

Brady “has wanted to take responsibility for his actions since the day it happened,” his court-appointed defense attorney, Lisa Calyn Valenta, told the court.

Brandi Shroyer, deputy district attorney, told the court why Hernandez’s mother was not there: “The level of devastation and grief she has experienced prevented her from coming to the courthouse.” Shroyer then read a statement from the teenager’s mother: “I want the court to know that I hope he gets what he gave.”

Jennifer Grigg was in court to represent Pastorino but asked prosecutors to read a statement about her daughter. She was joined by another daughter, Alyson Pastorino, who tried to tell the court how she felt but spoke barely above a whisper and through tears.

“Losing her sister has made her scared of everything,” Grigg said in the statement. She added: “I wish I could take away her pain.”

Grigg said in her statement that her daughter was strong, smart and brave.

She said that, on the worst days, she looks at videos and photos of her daughter all day long. Since the murder, she said she posts a photo of her on social media every day, because “I want everyone to think about her.”

“I have so many pictures of her,” she said. “But I don’t have her.”