45-year sentence given in stabbing death
Jury rejects ‘passion’ defense of man tied to 2 other slayings
A Galveston County jury sentenced a Livingston man to 45 years in prison for fatally stabbing his 16-year-old girlfriend 50 times in 2016 in Texas City, rejecting the defense’s argument that the crime was committed in “sudden passion.”
Jesse Dobbs, 23, who pleaded guilty in September to stabbing Kristin Fritch 50 times, was shaking visibly, clutching the hand of his defense attorney Jyll Rekoff as the jury read the verdict.
He will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence. Dobbs told Judge Lonnie Cox during his sentencing that he plans to appeal his sentence.
Jury deliberations began Monday afternoon after more than 30 witnesses, including Dobbs, testified about the case in the punishment trial phase. Rekoff was hoping the jury would rule that the Dobbs killed Fritch out of “sudden passion,” capping Dobbs’ sentence at 20 years.
“Not real happy with the verdict, we thought it was going to be sudden passion, but on the flip side, we’re really happy it’s not
life,” Rekoff said in the courtroom after the verdict was read.
Prosecutors Bill Reed and Matthew Shawhan were hoping the jury would recommend a life sentence, believing that Dobbs was not only responsible for killing Fritch, but also may have had a role in the shooting deaths of Fritch’s mother, Cynthia Morris, 37, and Breanna Pavilicek, 13, in Baytown.
“We put forward the evidence and we asked for a substantial prison sentence because we believe that, based on the facts and the evidence, not only in this case but based on his criminal history and the child sexual abuse offenses, that he is a danger to the community and that’s why we asked for life,” Reed said after the verdict was read.
Reed added that he believed the Harris County district attorney should take a fresh look at the Morris and Pavilicek murders in the wake of the punishment trial and evidence they presented. No one has been charged in those killings, though Baytown police detectives maintained during the trial that Dobbs is their primary suspect.
Doyle Morris Jr., Fritch’s uncle and Cynthia Morris’ brother, echoed the prosecution’s desire to see Dobbs charged in the killings of Morris and Pavilicek.
“We’re obviously not happy about it, but we’re happy that he’s going to jail for a while,” Morris said. “And we hope the DA continues to push forward and get the truth for the two Baytown murders. Our sister and nieces deserve this.”
The Baytown slayings are what led authorities to search for Fritch, having responded to the family’s home on the morning of Nov. 8, 2016, where they found Morris and her younger daughter shot to death in the master bedroom.
Hours later, Baytown police put out an Amber Alert for Fritch, who was missing along with Dobbs and the family car. Fritch’s body was found more than 36 hours later in a Texas City drainage ditch, her body in the initial stages of decomposition and covered with stab wounds.
Dobbs was later picked up by police at Shenanigan’s bar in Texas City.
Dobbs testified on Monday that he snapped and killed Fritch after she called him a rapist and threatened to frame him for the murders of her mother and sister. Dobbs maintains that Fritch was responsible for their deaths.
Fritch’s family members were in the audience when the verdict was read, appearing visibly disappointed that the jury did not return a life sentence for Dobbs.
In an emotionally charged moment, three of Fritch’s family members read victim impact statements during Dobbs’ sentencing — Barbara DeRamus, her grandmother, uncle Doyle Morris Jr., and aunt Sherry Morris — with Dobbs looking on stonefaced in handcuffs and a green Galveston County Jail jumpsuit.
Her uncle, Morris Jr., scoffed at the defense’s notion that Dobbs committed a crime of passion.
He addressed Dobbs directly by saying a crime of passion “would be if I came over and beat your ass right now.” DeRamus, tears streaming down her face, called Dobbs a “monster” who preyed on vulnerable young victims.
“Kirstin had a big heart and wanted to help you, Jesse,” DeRamus screamed. “Thanks to you, her big heart got her, her mom, and her little sister murdered.”
Sherry Morris said Dobbs was “a cancer,” and that Fritch “had no chance with this disease.” Morris punctuated her statement by describing Dobbs as “a rapist,” the same name he said her niece insulted him with prior to her to death.
“Knowing you will be locked up in a hole for 45 years gives us all a sliver of peace,” Morris said. “Don’t get too comfortable though, there’s more to come, rapist.”