Suspects in 2016 slaying to stand trial next year
The cases of three men accused of murdering a Texarkana father as he waited for a school bus in March 2016 are unlikely to be resolved until next year. Anthony Wilson, 20, Jaquelle Rogers, 22, and Jailon Gamble, 20, are accused of murdering 28-year-old Casey Smith during a robbery March 29, 2016, on Mamie Street in Texarkana, Texas. A fourth co-defendant, Marshall Vallejos, 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March and is serving a sentence of life with parole possible.
The state is not seeking the death penalty for Wilson, Rogers or Gamble. All three men appeared at separate hearings Wednesday before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart. Lockhart told each of them that their trials cannot occur this year because of a death penalty case scheduled to get underway in Lockhart’s court in the coming weeks which is expected to usurp several months of the court’s docket with jury selection and trial.
Wilson appeared with Texarkana lawyer Derric McFarland who asked the court about reducing Wilson’s bail. Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp reminded the court that a previous motion to reduce Wilson’s bail had been denied by the court.
“This defendant was apprehended after he fled the jurisdiction,” Crisp said. “Federal marshals picked him up in Tennessee.”
Gamble appeared with Texarkana lawyer Joe Tyler, who told the court he had no major issues to address with the court 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, though 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 used to create the following account. One of the defendants allegedly waited nearby in a car while the other three approached Smith. Vallejos confessed to shooting Smith in the face. Wilson allegedly fired shots as well.
If convicted of capital murder, the men face life without parole possible.