October 27, 2023 - A Center man has been convicted by a Shelby County Jury in the 2021 first degree murder by shooting of another man and has been sentenced to 50 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate Division.
The trial was prosecuted by District Attorney Karren Price, assisted by County Attorney John Price, and was held in the 273rd Judicial District Court with the Honorable James A. Payne Presiding over the trial of Justin Earl Bennett who was accused of the first degree felony murder of Deon Bailey. Jury selection began Monday, October 16, 2023, and the trial lasted until Friday, October 20.
During a “trail ride” event held on CR 2225 (new feed mill road) just off State Loop 500 outside of Center, witnesses and attorneys with the defense and prosecution retold of a physical altercation which occurred between Bennett and Bailey. After this incident occurred, Bennett left his vehicle at the trail ride and walked home where he then showered and changed clothes, before driving another vehicle back to the trail ride with a gun. Bennett and Bailey then engaged in another altercation, during which the gun Bennett brought back with him was used to shoot Bailey.
Bennett then left the scene of the shooting in the original vehicle he had gone to the trail ride in with his cousin. Three days later, Bennett turned himself in at the Sheriff’s Department without incident. According to a video recorded interview between Bennett and Sheriff’s Department Investigators Chad Brown and Jimmy Wagstaff, Bennett claimed he had been hiding in the woods for three days and during that time had thrown the gun somewhere near a body of water.
The jury heard from the defense presented by Attorney Clay Thomas, representing Bennett, and presented through witness testimony the possibility Bailey also had a gun at the trail ride; however, neither the gun Bennett used to shoot Bailey nor the one Bailey was suggested to have possessed were ever located.
The jury deliberated for just under an hour over the guilt or innocence of Bennett, and came back with a verdict of guilty. The jury returned to the jury room once again to deliberate over the sentencing phase and after 27 minutes returned with a sentence of 50 years in prison. Bennett was then remanded to the custody of the Shelby County Sheriff until transport to the prison system.
