March 16, 2022 - A Shelby County Jury has found Brandon D. Roberts, of Center, guilty Wednesday, March 16, 2022, following a three-day trial which was held at the Windham Civic Center.
Jury selection was held Monday, March 14, 2022, in the court of 123rd Judicial District Judge LeAnn K. Rafferty, and jurors heard testimony on the circumstances that led to the arrest and subsequent trial of Roberts.
Roberts was found guilty of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual assault; sexual assault; and tampering with evidence. He received two life sentences and a third for 20 years.
Karren Price, 123rd Judicial District Attorney, along with Lynda K. Russell and their team were responsible for the prosecution of the case against Roberts and Reynaldo Morin, Nacogdoches criminal attorney, represented Roberts.
After deliberating for several hours and reviewing case evidence, the jury returned their verdict for all three counts against him.
The cases surrounded an incident on Terry Street in Center on May 3, 2021, in which a woman was assaulted by her neighbor, Roberts, who lived across the street from her with his father. The woman involved in the incident had a baby in the home at the time, and during her testimony described how she did everything she could to protect her baby from the intruder in her home.
A 911 call was made around 4am on the morning of the attack, and the Center Police Department responded to the scene on Terry Street; however, the prowler was already gone. When Roberts knocked on her door around 9:30 later that morning as she was preparing to go to work, she grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Roberts was stabbed several times during the altercation, and according to the woman as he tried to force his way into the home she stabbed him. It was after this that he attacked her.
The jury sifted through a large amount of evidence they were presented with during the trial, and after they gave a majority of it a final review before they made their decision, they came to the conclusion Roberts was guilty.
Related article:
Center PD Investigates Terry Street Residence Assault
