NEW BOSTON, Texas -- A Bowie County jury has found Travis Turner guilty of murder in the 2021 death of his girlfriend, less than three hours after Turner took the stand to testify in his own defense.
The jury received the case at 5 p.m. Friday and returned with a verdict at 5:18 p.m.
The punishment phase of the trial starts Monday.
Friends and family of Garrett's cried softy with relief when the verdict was announced.
Turner took the witness stand about 2:30 p.m., Friday afternoon and defiantly claimed his innocence in the murder of Jennifer Garrett after often heated exchanges with First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp.
Crisp questioned Turner about the morning of August 12, 2021 when Garrett's car and possessions were at the apartment but, she was not.
"Her car is there, her phone is there, her purse is there. And that makes sense to you?" Crisp asked.
"Tell us how the body got there. What is your theory?" Crisp asked Turner.
"Are you saying I put the body there?" Turner replied.
"I think you killed her the night before," Crisp said.
Turner is charged with murder in the death of Jennifer Rose Garrett, 29, of Texarkana, Texas, on Aug. 11, 2021. Turner and Garrett met at Texas High School and had dated on and off for a number of years, according to testimony.
At one point Turner said Crisp did not know anything about him.
"I know you strangled Jennifer Garrett and sat in the court room 10 minutes ago and laughed about it," Crisp replied.
Crisp asked Turner about the text messages between him and Garrett that were presented as evidence. "You don't think they manipulated her( Garrett)," Crisp asked.
"That's your opinion," Turner replied.
Crisp referenced a text where Turner reportedly told Garrett to "shut your b***h ass up."
"You don't believe that's verbally abusive?" Crisp asked.
"Um..It depends on how people talk," Turner replied.
Turner told Crisp he had told Garrett he was not interested in continuing their relationship but she kept bringing him food and other items.
Turner laughed about the allegations he took a document from Capitol Title and said he would have been arrested if he had done something wrong there.
"You think this is funny don't you?" Crisp said. "The whole reason we are here is because you think you can do whatever it is you want to do."
"Is that a fact?" Turner replied.
Turner said Garrett left the apartment the night of August 11 to go out with friends and never returned.
Turner said Garrett's body was not on the couch the morning of August 12 when he left the apartment. He said someone else must have put her body on the couch.
"Who set you up?" Crisp asked
"That's your job," Turner told Crisp.
Crisp put an autopsy photo of Garrett's bruised face on the overhead screen.'
"You are acting like her life had no value to you. I ask you about her and you talk about yourself. Everything revolves around you" Crisp said. "Her life meant nothing to you did it?"
Turner said that was not true and that Garrett had been a real friend to him.
Crisp referenced Garrett's autopsy photo on the overhead screen.
"Strangers have cried over the loss of her and you have laughed," Crisp said. "I have given you every chance to show your humanity," she said.
Turner said he would take the stand after the state rested its case Friday afternoon. He was the only witness for the defense.
Prior to Turner taking the stand, Judge John Tidwell told Turner he could not let the jury see his restraints while he was on the witness stand. Tidwell had previously approved a motion that would keep Turner in restraints during the trial due to his actions in jail. Turner wore a gray suit jacket over a white shirt but his hands and feet were restrained.
As she started her questioning, Crisp told Turner she had noticed him smiling in court and asked if he thought the situation was funny.
Turner said he had seen Crisp smiling and though if she could smile, he could also smile.
Crisp also asked Turner about the dispute at his mother's house in July 2021.
"Did you choke your mama?" Crisp asked.
Turner said he did not but that his mother tried to choke him. Turner described the disturbance as his brother trying to fight him, and that his mother grabbed him around the neck and that he threw her off to defend himself.
Under questioning by his public defender, Turner also told Craytor the police officers who handcuffed him were rough with him. He also said they cut his fingernails so short they bled and did not take him to see the nurse.
"Nobody cared about you did they?" Craytor said.
Craytor made a motion after the state rested that there is not enough evidence to proceed with the case because nothing could tie Turner to the crime scene. The motion was overruled by Tidwell.
Earlier Friday afternoon, the medical examiner who performed Garrett's autopsy testified that it took an excessive amount of force to cause the injuries on Garrett's body.
Dr. Elizabeth Ventura of the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office performed the autopsy on Garrett on August 13, 2021.
"The cause of death was due to strangulation, and the manner of death was homicide," Ventura testified
Ventura pointed out a broken hyoid bone in Garrett's neck, fractured thyroid cartilage and facial petechia as sign of strangulation.
The hyoid bone helps support neck muscles. "It took a significant amount of force to break that bone," Ventura testified. "It was fractured and there was hemorrhage associated with it which means it occurred before death" she said.
Ventura testified she does not typically see a fractured hyoid bone in a person as young as Garrett.
Ventura described Garrett as an otherwise healthy 29-year-old woman with a negative toxicology report.
Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards, Ventura described Garrett's injuries as "extensive."
"I don't typically see this many injuries in a strangling case. These injuries are rarely seen all together," Ventura said.
Ventura also pointed out facial petechia on Garrett as a sign of strangulation.
Petechia occurs when pressure builds in the venules and capillaries and causes rupture. In a strangulation, its from pressure being applied to the neck and the struggle caused by that pressure.
"All in her face, you see pinpoints of discoloration" Ventura testified.
Ventura also testified abrasions on Garrett's neck were consistent with Garrett trying to release the hand that was around her neck.
In closing statements Friday, Richards told the jury this was the "end of a very long road for Jennifer Garret's family."
She referred to Turner's testimony as the same type of behavior that jurors had heard from other witnesses.
"He thinks he can manipulate and bully.. and it's called gaslighting," Richards said.
Richards referred to the DNA under Garrett's fingernails as "some of the strongest evidence of a murder you will see" and described Turner as a "Jekyll and Hyde."
In his closing arguments, Craytor expressed offense at the term gaslighting and at name calling. He called it a "cheap shot."
Crisp reminded the jury that trial was "Jennifer's trial too."
"She did not have value to him, but she had value today," Crisp said.