NEW BOSTON, Texas-A 20-year-old Texarkana man convicted Thursday of capital murder in the death of a local father will spend the rest of his life behind the walls of a Texas prison.
A jury of seven women and five men deliberated about 30 minutes Thursday afternoon before finding Anthony Wilson Jr. guilty of capital murder in the March 29, 2016, death of Casey Smith. Because the state was not seeking the death penalty, 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart sentenced Wilson to the only other punishment available for the crime under Texas law-life without the possibility of parole.
"Capital murder is the most serious criminal offense in the state of Texas. Our Bowie County citizens, considering back-to-back capital murder trials, assessed each the maximum penalty allowed by law. This demonstrates an absolute lack of tolerance for this kind of violence," Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said. "Casey Smith suffered horrendous injuries including at least four gunshots from Anthony Wilson. Rejecting the convenience of Wilson's effort to blame his co-defendants, the jury rightly found him guilty of capital murder. The successful outcome would not have been possible without the tireless work and dedication of the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department."
Smith, 28, was parked in front of a house in the 2400 block of Mamie Street where he routinely waited for the school bus carrying his three stepdaughters, according to witness testimony heard Wednesday and Thursday. Unbeknownst to Smith, Anthony Wilson, who had armed himself, and co-defendant Marshall Vallejos, 23, had caught sight of him as he drove past a short time earlier on South Lake Drive in Texarkana, Texas, and into the parking lot of the Dollar General store.
Wilson and Vallejos had been riding around and smoking marijuana for a couple of hours with Jailon Gamble, 20, and Jaquelle Rogers, 22, in Gamble's silver Hyundai. Gamble and Rogers both testified that Wilson, who was the only one of the men acquainted with Smith, believed Smith would have money and wanted to rob him.
When a chance encounter with Vallejos' mother at Dollar General led Wilson and Vallejos to scratch their plan to rob Smith in the parking lot, Wilson noticed Smith's white Chevrolet Tahoe parked on Mamie Street and hatched a plan. Wilson intended to ask Smith for a light as Wilson walked up holding a marijuana cigarette. Wilson approached Smith's driver's side, and Vallejos went to the passenger side.
Gamble testified Thursday that he never got out of his car as he sat in a field near Mamie Street. Rogers testified he walked down a trail a short distance to watch events transpire, but began to run as soon as he heard the sound of gunshots. Wilson's defense lawyer, Derric McFarland of Texarkana, asked both men on cross examination if they had agreed to blame Wilson. Capital murder charges remain pending against Rogers and Gamble. Valejos pleaded guilty to felony murder in March and is serving a sentence of life with parole possible.
Wilson shot Smith at least four times with a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol, with several of the shots fired into Smith's back. Vallejos shot Smith once in the face with a .357 revolver. Smith perished in moments as one of the .380-caliber bullets passed through his aorta.
A marijuana cigarette collected by police from the driver's floor board of Smith's car had Wilson's DNA on it, experts from the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab testified Thursday. Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp theorized it was dropped there by Wilson when the shooting started.
Gamble testified that Wilson and Vallejos appeared to be in a celebratory mood when they jumped back into his car and told him to drive.
"They didn't seemed bummed. Vallejos said, 'I got my first body. I told y'all I could do it.' He said he was going to make the shell casing into a necklace," Gamble testified.
Vallejos, who had been shot in the knee by one of Wilson's bullets, was arrested the night of the murder at a local hospital. Gamble and Rogers turned themselves in over the next two days and cooperated with investigators. Wilson was arrested by U.S. Marshals on April 18, 2016, at a girlfriend's apartment in Tennessee. Dustin Thompson, a Texarkana, Texas, detective who led the investigation, testified Thursday that Wilson was not clothed when he jumped through a glass window trying to evade capture.
"Casey Smith had done some yard work and was waiting for three little girls to get off a school bus," Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards argued in closing remarks. "Anthony Wilson and his little friends murdered Casey Smith in broad daylight, at 3:30 in the afternoon."
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp echoed Richards.
"They rerouted the school bus so the children didn't have see a dead man laying on the ground. If you're parents, that ought to appall you," Crisp argued. "We're talking about a neighborhood where people are doing yard work and kids are coming home from school."
After Lockhart dismissed the jury, they returned to the courtroom and sat in the audience as Casey Smith's mother, Margie Smith, read victim impact statements from herself and Casey Smith's biological daughter, who was 9 when he was killed.
"How do you describe in words, on paper, the feelings of his mother, his father, burying their youngest child, the only one they had together? How do you tell a child he will never be there for her milestones," the grieving mother said.
Margie Smith spoke of the pain she feels when she sees her son's name etched in granite on a headstone, of the deep loss experienced by his siblings and other family, the guilt she experiences when something makes her laugh, and the unending sadness that is always a word or a photo away from the surface.
"Now sometimes it feels like going to the cemetery is all that's left," Margie Smith said. "I feel like I'm leaving him out there all alone by himself."
Wilson appeared moved when Margie Smith read the words of her granddaughter.
"I'll never be able to run into his arms, tell him I love him. He will never see me graduate, get married or have children. He always wanted grandchildren. I don't know what to say when someone asks if you're bringing your dad to the father-daughter dance," Margie Smith read. "I never thought it would end like this. Everyone says he's in a better place, but it wasn't time for that. You can't imagine, even in your worst nightmare. But mine is not a nightmare. It's real life."