NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Bowie County jury sentenced a 23-year-old man to life in prison Friday in connection with a fatal shooting earlier this year at a Texarkana, Texas, gas station.
Tyvon Montrel Gullatt was ordered to pay a maximum $10,000 fine as well in the Feb. 10 death of 25-year-old Carlos Clark. Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards theorized at trial that Gullatt had seen Clark with a large sum of cash earlier in the night while playing dice at the Sugar Shack in Texarkana and followed him as he rode with his friend, Carlos Battle, to the Chevron gas station on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Texas.
Gullatt climbed into the backseat of the Nissan Sentra in which Clark was riding as a passenger and pulled a 9 mm pistol, witnesses testified. Gullatt shot Clark in the back as he was attempting to get out of the car and run. The gun was fired at such close range it left a muzzle print on Clark's body, witnesses testified.
Friday morning, the jury heard testimony from Darren Chartentier, who serves as operations manager at the Bowie County jail. Chartentier said that, when a Doritos chips bag containing marijuana and tobacco was thrown over the fence at the jail annex, it was his duty to determine from where it had come.
Calls between Gullatt and his mother recorded at the jail were played for the jury. The calls indicated that Gullatt's mother, at Gullatt's direction, was attempting to smuggle contraband to her son. The jury also heard testimony concerning Gullatt's prior arrests for theft and his history of threatening those whom he had victimized.
"Tyvon Gullatt presented a unique problem for law enforcement: he threatened, harassed or bribed would-be witnesses in order to discourage them from pursuing charges against him," Crisp said. "The consequences of criminal behavior caught up with him. The evidence showed that Gullatt is a robber and that he targeted, ambushed and murdered Carlos Clark in public, shooting him from such close range that the gun's muzzle left an imprint on the victim's skin. The District Attorney's Office appreciates the jury's conviction and life sentence, demonstrating the high value our citizens place on human life."
Crisp also mentioned her admiration of and respect for 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart, who is retiring at the end of the year.
"We likewise appreciate Judge Bobby Lockhart. In this, his final trial, he demonstrated his continuous and unwavering commitment to fairness and to maintaining law and order in our county."