An Ector County jury has acquitted a 24-year-old Odessa man accused of shooting another man to death last August, but it convicted him of manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday.
Defense attorney Phillip Wildman argued Zacimbricc White acted in self-defense when he shot Jason Crowder, 28, multiple times on Aug. 23, 2023.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, dispatchers received a 911 call about shots being fired in the 700 block of Snyder Street and officers quickly learned two gunshot victims had been driven to Odessa Regional Medical Center by privately-owned vehicles.
The person who drove Crowder to the hospital told authorities he drove Crowder to Snyder Street and Crowder was shot after calling a man he didn’t know a “rat.” According to the report, he drove Crowder to ORMC after the shooter ran away.
White, who was shot once in the right armpit, told police he was shot at, but he didn’t return fire, the report stated.
However, the OPD report indicates officers found a surveillance video showing the two men arguing, White shooting at Crowder and Crowder returning fire from behind a nearby vehicle as White continues to shoot at him.
The video shows Crowder falling into the street and White shooting at him from closer range, the report stated. It also shows the moment White is hit by one of Crowder’s bullets and then getting into a Dodge Charger and departing.
Moments later, the video shows Crowder being helped into a Kia van and leaving.
Crowder died at Medical Center Hospital.
