NEW BOSTON, Texas -- A man charged in a 2017 shooting death that also involved his brother and cousin was found guilty of murder Thursday in Bowie County's 5th District Court.
LaPrense Derell Willis, 48, was sentenced to 70 years in prison for first-degree murder in the death of Tony Sanders.
Sanders, 51, was shot to death Dec. 3, 2017.
Clarence Dewayne Willis, the brother of LaPrense Willis, was found guilty of murder in November 2019 and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He has since died.
The brothers' cousin, Takyme Devon James, 41, also was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a life term.
At James' trial, prosecutors argued that James solicited the help of the Willis brothers after Sanders got the better of him in a fight while they were watching football at a private club.
Witnesses testified that James was intoxicated and belligerent and took a swing at Sanders, the party's host. When Sanders asked James to leave, James reportedly pushed Sanders, who then knocked James to the ground.
As Sanders helped James from the floor and walked him to the door, James allegedly recruited his cousins, Clarence Willis and LaPrense Willis, to help him retaliate. James allegedly told them that he had been "jumped" by several men who left him with a blackened eye and swollen face, according to testimony offered at James' trial in December 2018.
Clarence Willis allegedly kicked in the door of Sanders' home, and James allegedly went inside and fired a shot that traveled through a wall before striking Sanders in his upper thigh, perforating a major vein and artery in his leg.
Sanders died of blood loss despite efforts to stop the bleeding by a Texarkana Texas Police Department officer.
"Tony beat Takyme. His eye was black, his face was bleeding, but the most serious injury was to his pride," Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards argued in closing at James' trial.
LaPrense Willis was represented by attorney Shorty Barrett of Texarkana.
First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards prosecuted the case.