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Thread: David Wayne Hampton Sentenced to 50 Years in 2019 TX Slaying of 79-Year-Old Celestino Rodriguez

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    David Wayne Hampton Sentenced to 50 Years in 2019 TX Slaying of 79-Year-Old Celestino Rodriguez


    Celestino Rodriguez






    Capital murder charge filed against suspect in 2019 beating death of elderly Slaton man

    By Gabriel Monte
    Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

    A 55-year-old man accused in the beating death of a 79-year-old Slaton man about three years ago is facing an upgraded charge.

    David Wayne Hampton was initially indicted on September 2019 on a count of murder, which carries a punishment of five years to life in prison.

    However, on Tuesday Lubbock County prosecutors presented grand jurors with a capital murder case against Hampton in connection with Celestino Rodriguez's Aug. 3, 2019 slaying. Hampton is accused of killing Rodriguez in the course of robbing the elderly man.

    Grand jurors returned a true bill and Hampton He now faces a possible punishment of life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

    He is set to stand trial on the case in June. He is represented by Lubbock attorney Phil Johnson, who declined to comment.

    Hampton is one of six people charged in connection with the homicide case.

    Heather Casias, 37, Brett Garza, 36 are both charged with murder. Freddie Salinas, 39, faces a count of tampering with a corpse, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

    Toby Daughtry and Amanda Blagburn each face a count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony that carries a punishment of six months to two years in a state jail facility.

    Prosecutors believe Casias hatched a plan with Garza to rob Rodriguez, who Casias knew was about to get a monthly benefit check. Garza recruited Hampton to help with the robbery, according to an arrest warrant.

    Investigators believe Casias lured Rodriguez to a location in Lubbock and watched as Garza and Hampton beat him until he was unresponsive, the warrant states.

    Rodriguez died a short time later and Garza and Hampton moved his body to a cotton field West of Lubbock after taking his wallet and debit card.

    The warrant states Hampton told Blagburn and Daughtry to hide Rodriguez’s white Chrysler 200 in a way that law enforcement would find it.

    Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s family reported him missing to Slaton police, who asked the Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit to help investigate.

    Investigators with the unit discovered Rodriguez’s debit card was used at businesses in Lubbock four hours after he was last seen. Investigators tracked down the transactions and identified Garza, Hampton and another man as the men who were allegedly fraudulently using Rodriguez’s debit card, including using his PIN, the warrant states.

    Milam County Sheriff’s deputies found Rodriguez’s vehicle in Temple. The vehicle was abandoned near a field surrounded by vegetation of 8-10 feet tall. Rodriguez’s cane and a shoe he was seen wearing were found in the vehicle.

    Milam County deputies, responding to a call about a man walking along a roadway, encountered Daughtry, who said he wanted to talk to them about a stolen car involving Hampton.

    Investigators spoke to Garza who reportedly said he recruited Salinas and another man to move Rodriguez’s body to a field near Abernathy when Casias called him and was concerned that Rodriguez’s body would be discovered.

    Garza led police to the field near County Road 315 and County Road K, northwest of Abernathy, where they found a body that was later identified as Rodriguez, the warrant states.

    Casias, Hampton and Garza remain held at the Lubbock County Detention Center.

    https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...ez/9810250002/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Trial begins for man accused in beating death of elderly Slaton man

    By Gabriel Monte
    Lubbock Avalanche-Journal


    The trial began Monday on a non-death penalty capital murder trial for a 56-year old man accused of the 2019 slaying of a 79-year-old Slaton man whose body was found northwest of Abernathy.

    David Wayne Hampton, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since Aug. 15, 2019, is charged with capital murder in the Aug. 3, 2019 slaying of Celestino Rodriguez.

    Attorneys worked Monday to pare down a pool of 70 people to a 12-person jury who will hear the case against Hampton.

    Capital murder typically carries a punishment of the death penalty or life in prison without parole. However, prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in the case so Hampton faces an automatic life sentence without parole if he is convicted.

    Hampton is one of a handful of people charged in connection with the homicide case that initially began as a missing persons case when Rodriguez's family reported him missing .

    Heather Casias and Brett Garza, are both charged with murder. Meanwhile, Freddie Salinas faces a count of tampering with a corpse, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

    Toby Daughtry and Amanda Blagburn each face a count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony that carries a punishment of six months to two years in a state jail facility.

    Prosecutors believe Casias hatched a plan with Garza to rob Rodriguez, who Casias knew was about to get a monthly benefit check. Garza recruited Hampton to help with the robbery, according to an arrest warrant.

    Investigators believe Casias lured Rodriguez to a location in Lubbock and watched as Garza and Hampton beat him until he was unresponsive, the warrant states.

    Rodriguez died a short time later and Garza and Hampton moved his body to a cotton field west of Lubbock after taking his wallet and debit card.

    The warrant states Hampton told Blagburn and Daughtry to hide Rodriguez’s white Chrysler 200.

    Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s family reported him missing to Slaton police, who asked the Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit to help investigate. While investigating Rodriguez's disappearance, detectives found that his debit card was being used in multiple stores in Lubbock.

    Security camera footage from the stores showed two men, later identified as Hampton and Garza, at the store together.

    According to the arrest warrant, Garza reportedly admitted to being a part of the plan to beat and rob Rodriguez. He reportedly told investigators that Casias knew the PIN number to Rodriguez's card and gave it to him and Hampton.

    According to the warrant, Garza led investigators to a secluded location in Abernathy where he, Salinas and and another man left Rodriguez's body.

    https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...an/7751333001/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Trial for man accused of 2019 capital murder ends in mistrial

    By Samantha Jarpe and David Ewerz
    KLBK News


    LUBBOCK, Texas — The capital murder trial of David Hampton ended in a mistrial Thursday. Hampton was accused in the 2019 murder of Celestino Rodriguez.

    The trial of Hampton, 55, began Tuesday.

    137th District Court Judge Trey McClendon granted a defense motion for mistrial after witnesses for the government made multiple prohibited statements about Hampton’s prior criminal history.

    Hampton was one of three indicted for the murder of Rodriguez. The other two – Heather Casias, 37, and Brett Garza, 36, were awaiting trial.

    https://www.everythinglubbock.com/ne...s-in-mistrial/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Lubbock Avalanche Journal

    District judge rejects Lubbock capital murder defendant's double jeopardy claim

    District judge rejects Lubbock capital murder defendant's double jeopardy claim. A Lubbock judge has denied a 56-year-old man's request to dismiss a capital murder charge against him after his trial ended in a mistrial in late June.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Defendant admits to role in 2019 slaying of 79-year-old Slaton man

    By Gabriel Monte
    Lubbock Avalanche-Journal


    A Lubbock District judge will decide the punishment of a man who admitted to his role in the 2019 slaying of a 79-year-old Slaton man whose body was found northwest of Abernathy.

    David Hampton, who was initially charged with capital murder in the Aug. 3, 2019 slaying of Celestino Rodriguez, appeared Wednesday before Judge John McClendon in the 137th District Court and pleaded guilty to a count of murder.

    Hampton, 57, fought back tears as he signed plea paperwork including a judicial confession before standing beside his attorney, Phil Johnson, in front of the judge to formally enter his guilty plea.

    He spoke softly as he answered the judge's questions about the voluntariness of his plea and paused before telling the judge that he was pleading guilty because he was guilty and for no other reason.

    However, Hampton's plea was not a result of a bargain with Lubbock County District Attorney's Office. Instead, he opted for McClendon to determine his punishment, which ranges from 5 years to life in prison. A bench trial is set for next week.

    The plea comes a year after McClendon granted a mistrial in a July 2022 non-death penalty capital murder trial after multiple potentially prejudicial statements against him were heard by jurors from prosecution witnesses without the court's approval.

    Hampton, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since Aug. 15, 2019, is one of seven of people charged in connection with the homicide case that initially began as a missing persons case when Rodriguez's family reported him missing. However, he is the only one who was charged with capital murder.

    Heather Casias and Brett Garza are each charged with murder. Freddie Salinas of Abernathy and James Andrew Anderson were charged with tampering with a corpse. Toby Daughtry and Amanda Blagburn each face a count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony that carries a punishment of six months to two years in a state jail facility.

    Anderson pleaded guilty in December 2020 in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. Blagburn also pleaded guilty to her charge in exchange for a 12-month sentence.

    During last year's trial, prosecutors told jurors the evidence at trial will show that Casias hatched a plan with Garza to rob Rodriguez, who Casias knew was about to get a monthly benefit check.

    She said Rodriguez met Casias, who worked as a prostitute, at a game room where he spent a lot of time at game rooms after his wife died nearly a year before.

    Meanwhile, Garza recruited Hampton to help with the robbery during which they beat and killed Rodriguez. Then Garza brought in Salinas and Anderson to move Rodriguez's body to Abernathy.

    During the trial, Jurors heard from Rodriguez's daughter, Norma Wallace, who said her father had been spiraling in depression as he grieved the death of his wife nearly a year before.

    In the weeks before his disappearance, she said she noticed signs of her father's further decline.

    "He was coming home with bruises," she said. "There was money missing out of his account. He seemed a little bit more angry and lost."

    She said on Aug. 3, 2019, her father left for Lubbock telling her he was getting an oil change for his car a white Chrysler 200. She said he never came home and knew something bad had happened to him.

    "I knew the day my dad didn't come home that something was wrong," she said.

    As police searched for Rodriguez, his family found that his debit card was being used in multiple stores in Lubbock.

    Security camera footage from the stores showed two men, later identified as Hampton and Brett Garza using Rodriguez's card.

    Garza was arrested Aug. 14, 2019, on a warrant charging him with debit card abuse.

    When investigators spoke with him he revealed the plot Casias devised to rob Rodriguez of his debit card. He reportedly told investigators that Casias knew the PIN number to Rodriguez's card and gave it to him and Hampton.

    He said Casias lured Rodriguez to a field on private land near the intersection of Erskine Street and Farm to Market Road 179 where he and Hampton confronted Rodriguez, beat him until he was unresponsive. He died shortly after.

    Garza led investigators to a secluded location in Abernathy where he, Salinas and and another man left Rodriguez's body, which was in advanced stages of decomposition.

    In an Aug. 15, 2019 news release announcing Garza's arrest, police officials said Hampton was still at large and was believed to be in Lubbock but was able to move about without being discovered.

    That same day, Hampton surrendered to police in Abilene when he learned about the arrest warrant for using Rodriguez's debit card. There, he met with Lubbock police detectives who wanted to interview.

    Hampton initially told the detectives he wouldn't speak with them without an attorney. However, when detectives told him about a second warrant charging him with murder, he, unprompted, admitted to using the debit card, saying he was a drug addict and needed drugs, but repeatedly denied being involved in Rodriguez's death.

    "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life sir," he could be heard telling the detective. "But I would not, could not, kill no one."

    Jurors heard from state witnesses who said Hampton told them that he was involved in Rodriguez's death but was an unwilling participant.

    Hampton's niece told jurors that her uncle told her he was involved in Rodriguez's death and was distraught and upset about what happened. She said her uncle told her that he and Garza didn't expect Rodriguez to fight back and said he hit Rodriguez once on Garza's orders but couldn't continue hurting the man, saying he began to see his father's face on Rodriguez.

    Meanwhile, Anderson told jurors that Garza summoned him to the Tech Inn where he learned about the fatal robbery. He said said Hampton was there and was distraught about what happened and was angry with Garza for how the robbery ended.

    Anderson said Garza, admitted to killing Rodriguez and threatened him to help move Rodriguez's body. However, he said he also promised to pay him money and drugs if he helped.

    Anderson initially told jurors that Garza took sole responsibility for Rodriguez's death. However, he recanted that statement, saying he was trying to help Hampton.

    Anderson told jurors that while he was being held at the Lubbock County Jail on the tampering charge, he and Hampton were in the same pod and discussed Rodriguez's death.

    He told jurors that Hampton reportedly told him that when they robbed Rodriguez, the elderly man attacked Garza and Hampton reportedly put an arm around Rodriguez's neck to pull him off Garza. He said Hampton reportedly told him he felt Rodriguez's last breath and that the man died in his arms.

    https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...-in-2019-fatal
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Lubbock man sentenced for 2019 killing of Celestino Rodriguez

    By Caitlyn Rooney, Mikayla Holmes, and David Ewerz
    KLBK News

    LUBBOCK, Texas — David Hampton, 57, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in the 2019 death of 79-year-old Celestino Rodriguez. Hampton pleaded guilty to a lesser murder charge on September 20.

    Rodriguez was reported missing on August 3, 2019. His vehicle was found in Temple, Texas and his body was later found near Abernathy. Days later, Hampton, Brett Garza and Heather Casias were charged with murder.

    During opening statements for the punishment phase of Hampton’s open plea, prosecutor Chris Schulte said both Hampton and Garza laid hands on Rodriguez. Shulte said Hampton told an inmate that him and Garza “beat the hell out of a guy and took his car.”

    Garza testified he was dealing meth at a hotel and began to hang out with Casias, who told him she wanted to stop working as a prostitute. Garza described Casias as “not being in her right mind” to get out at the time. According to Garza’s testimony, Casias came up with the whole plan. Garza said Casias knew the victim would have money coming in at certain times and wanted to set up a robbery. Garza said he didn’t want to do it alone, so he recruited Hampton for help.

    According to Garza’s testimony, Hampton put Rodriguez in a chokehold during the assault. Garza said he did not think Rodriguez was dead when they left his body in the field in Hale County. During cross examination, Garza said they left him in the tall grass because they thought he would have “gotten up and left.”

    Chief Prosecuting Attorney Barron Slack asked if Hampton knew he would be involved in the robbery. Garza responded, “Yes.”

    Defense attorney Chris Wanner said Garza’s testimony was “untruthful” and painted him as an unreliable witness. Hampton’s attorneys brought a jail Chaplin and two pastors to testify on Thursday. All three said Hampton had learned “self-control” and was not as angry as he used to be.

    Hampton took the stand in tears and was given a moment to compose himself. He described a violent upbringing as a child, saying he was physically and sexually abused. Hampton said after he tried meth for the first time, his life was never the same. Hempton testified that Garza was responsible for the violence against Rodriguez, and said he never choked him.

    “Dope destroyed everything in my life,” Hampton said.

    Hampton sobbed as addressed the victim’s family, saying, “Oh God, I’m so sorry. If there is any way you can forgive me, please forgive me.”

    Rodriguez’s daughter, Patricia Rodriguez Perez, testified in court that her father was an “honorable” man who was a truck driver for most of his life. She said her father was a trusting person and “didn’t believe there were bad people around.”

    A total of six people faced charges in connection with his death. Authorities said Hampton, Casias and Garza were charged with murder. Daughtry and Blagburn were charged with Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Freddie Salinas and James Anderson were charged with tampering with evidence.

    Hampton must serve at least half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. The statuses of other cases were not immediately available.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eve...rodriguez/amp/

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