Five months since Tarrant County grandfather's death, family devastated

The family of a Tarrant County grandfather beaten to death by three strangers says they have been dealt another blow.

It’s been five months since Frank Kwasnica was killed in the parking lot of an Arlington apartment complex.

Three men are jailed for the January 19 murder.

Kwasnica’s family told NBC 5 they were informed by the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office that prosecutors would not be able to take the case to court.

Sierra Radley and Frank Kwasnica Sr. say they have no choice but to speak publicly about this week’s devastating and unexpected developments.

They say an assistant prosecutor assigned to the case told them Tuesday that the office planned to contact the suspect’s attorneys to offer them a plea deal, thereby avoiding taking the case to court.

“I feel like they don’t want to work because it’s going to be three different trials,” said Radley, the victim’s eldest daughter. “I felt like they had no respect for my father, like they were just trying to get the matter over with. I feel like they don’t want to make an effort because it’s not their family.

Radley says she’s willing to take the risk and demands three separate trials for capital murder or murder in her father’s death.

“(My father) didn’t get any second chances in life,” she said. “They left him there and I feel like if I sit here I wouldn’t be doing the right thing for my dad. He deserves to be out for life or face the death penalty.”

Arlington police said the savage attack in January was captured on video evidence, including cellphone evidence leading police to three Honduran nationals: brothers Brayan Amador Vasquez and Jared Amador Vasquez as well as Norlan Gomez Torres.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Gomez Torres in October 2023.

The Amador Vasquez brothers allegedly confessed to the attack, according to arrest warrants.

Police said the beating was so brutal that it took days to positively identify the victim.

“They beat him, they stabbed him with several sharp objects,” Radley said. “They hit him with a metal bar. They knew what they were doing. He tried to run away and they chased him.

Radley and Kwasnica Sr. shared painful moments of being asked not to view the victim’s body, given the extent of the injuries inflicted on his face, head and body.

“Because they beat him so much and he was unrecognizable, we didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to him,” she said. “People like that don’t deserve to be on the streets.”

Police initially held the trio on capital murder charges after determining they had stolen the victim’s car following the attack.

In late April, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted all three on murder charges, concluding “that they intentionally caused the death of Frank Kwasnica by beating him with a club, striking him with a roof tool, or beating him with a blunt object.

The family reported Kwasnica missing and later found the victim’s car.

Police found a bloody shoe that did not belong to the victim, a cell phone believed to belong to Gomez Torres and evidence in an apartment rented to one of the suspects.

Police also revealed there were witnesses to the crime, including a tow truck driver who recorded the “very disturbing” attack on his cellphone.

“By mutilating him, I mean, what kind of people are they,” asks Kwasnica Sr, upset. “They are animals. They deserve no sympathy and justice should be done for them.”

In late May, Sorrells lifted the death penalty for each suspect, according to online records.

NBC 5 contacted Tarrant County Prosecutor Phil Sorrell’s office to ask if a plea deal was being offered and why.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said, “No plea offers have been extended in the cases involving the death of Frank Kwasnika III.” »

The prosecutor’s office would not say whether a deal would be offered or accepted at a later date and what, if any, “weight” a victim’s family plays in those decisions.

The three suspects remain in prison.

NBC 5 was unable to reach his attorneys for comment.

The alleged motive is not yet clear, but police revealed there may have been an argument between the men and Kwasnica following a minor accident.