Trial for 3 men likely not in ’17
Docket full, judge tells them
TEXARKANA — The cases of three men accused in the slaying of a Texarkana father as he waited for a school bus in March 2016 will likely go to trial next year.
Anthony Wilson, 20, Jaquelle Rogers, 22, and Jailon Gamble, 20, face murder charges in the death of 28-year-old Casey Smith. Smith was killed during a robbery March 29, 2016, on Mamie Street on the Texas side of Texarkana, according to reports.
A fourth person, Marshall Vallejos, 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March and is serving a sentence of life in prison with parole possible.
Texas prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for Wilson, Rogers or Gamble. All three men appeared at separate hearings last week before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart in Texas. Lockhart told them that their trials cannot be held this year because of a death penalty case scheduled to get underway in Lockhart’s court in the coming weeks. That case, with jury selection and the trial, is expected to take up several months of the court’s docket.
Wilson appeared in court with Texarkana lawyer Derric McFarland, who asked the court about reducing Wilson’s bail. Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp reminded the court that it had denied a previous motion to reduce Wilson’s bail.
“This defendant was apprehended after he fled the jurisdiction,” Crisp said. “Federal marshals picked him up in Tennessee.”
Gamble appeared in court with Texarkana lawyer Joe Tyler, who told the court that he had no major issues to address on his client’s behalf Wednesday. Texarkana lawyer Bart Craytor made similar statements on behalf of Rogers.
Lockhart scheduled all three defendants to return to court for pretrial hearings Aug. 30. The earliest available trial date in Lockhart’s court is in December.
Smith was shot multiple times as he waited in his car for his daughter’s school bus, according to a probable cause affidavit.
One of the defendants waited nearby in a car while the other three approached Smith, authorities said.
Vallejos confessed to shooting Smith in the face. Wilson fired shots as well, authorities said.
If convicted of capital murder, each of the men faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.