TEXARKANA, Texas - A man who held a pistol to the head of a 2-year-old while demanding money from his mother pleaded guilty Tuesday in Bowie County to aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
However, Xavier Lavar French, 20, is asking that a jury determine what punishment he should receive. Jury selection in the sentencing trial is scheduled for next week before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
French faces five to 99 years or life in prison on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping. He pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon at a hearing before Tidwell.
French is represented by the Bowie County Public Defender's Office. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is prosecuting.
French is accused of attacking a mother as she fumbled for her keys outside her apartment door in Texarkana, Texas, after returning home from a late shift at work June 29, 2019, according to a probable cause affidavit.
French struck the woman in her head from behind with a pistol, causing her to fall to the ground.
"She stated that she was dazed and not immediately able to get up so the suspect grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up while continuing to strike her on the head with the pistol," the affidavit states.
"The victim further reported that the suspect grabbed her son, held him to his hip, pointed the gun at him and threatened to kill the 2-year-old if she did not open the apartment door."
When the woman managed to open the door, French demanded money. The mother reported that she went to her bathroom where she kept a bag containing $600 in cash. The woman told investigators that French warned her not to look at him during the assault.
The woman tossed the bag behind her and threw herself into the bathtub, catching a glimpse of her attacker in the mirror as she did. The woman recognized French though she described him as an acquaintance and not someone she knew well.
French, who was wearing a hat and had his lower face covered, grabbed the bag, the victim's cellphone and ran. The woman was interviewed by police at a Texarkana hospital where she sought treatment for her injuries. The affidavit notes the victim had cuts, bruising, swelling and dried blood on her head.
Crisp filed a notice in August detailing other instances of alleged misconduct by French that she intended to introduce at trial. The notice alleged that the gun French used during the robbery and kidnapping was stolen from a woman's car in May 2019.
The notice states the firearm was recovered from French's girlfriend's backpack at the time of his arrest July 1, 2019. The notice accuses French of writing "letters and notes" from jail to his girlfriend asking her to lie and take ownership of the gun.
"He tells her that the gun would connect him to the robbery so she is going to need to 'stay down' so that he can 'beat the charges' and they can eventually run away and get married," the notice states.
The state's notice also refers to a report of family violence made to Texarkana, Texas, police in January 2019 by a former girlfriend who has a child with French. The notice alleges French beat his former girlfriend with his fists and a bat and that she allegedly had evidence of bruising and bite marks from a prior assault by French.
The notice further alleges that while in jail in January this year, French disseminated or caused to be disseminated, intimate photos of his former girlfriend.
"The defendant took nude photographs of (his former girlfriend) when she was 16 years old and, when the couple broke off the relationship, the defendant distributed, or caused to be distributed, nude and personal photographs of (his former girlfriend)," the notice alleges. "When (the former girlfriend) ended the relationship, stopped going to visit the defendant and failed to put money on the defendant's inmate trust account, the defendant distributed - or caused to be distributed - the nude photographs."
The punishment-only trial is scheduled for jury selection Tuesday before Tidwell at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston. Testimony is expected to begin Wednesday.