An Ector County jury Thursday convicted an Odessa man of shooting another local man to death in July 2018.
The jury took just 90 minutes to convict Rondale Gerrod Farris, 41, of first-degree murder, felony murder because they found he was a felon in illegal possession of a firearm, and engaging in organized crime because they believe he’s a member of the Crips, a criminal street gang.
The jurors will return Friday morning to begin the punishment phase of the trial.
Assistant Ector County District Attorney Melissa Williams told jurors during closing arguments that the only way they’d be able to acquit Farris in the death of Treginale White was if they “disregarded the laws of physics and their own eyes.”
White, 41, was shot to death outside a convenience store at Highway 80 and Eighth Street on July 13, 2018.
Williams and her co-counsel, Scott Turner, based their case on the testimony of Thurman Williams, who came forward more than three years after the shooting to say he saw Farris shoot the victim, and surveillance tapes that showed White dropping to the ground seconds after Farris exited the store and shots are heard ringing out.
They also relied heavily on the testimony of a deputy medical examiner who testified the three shots that struck White were fired within less than three to four feet based upon the soot and gunpowder left on his face.
The prosecutors provided evidence indicating Farris shot White after being alerted by Christopher George that White was engaged in a fistfight with his former brother-in-law, Michael Donte Taylor, and White’s brother was fighting Farris’ brother, Gilbert Silver.
Defense attorney Jeff Nicholson told jurors that he can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt Taylor shot White, but it is possible he did. Nicholson also told jurors the state’s only actual eyewitness, Thurman Williams, testified because he wanted to “get his butt out of jail.”
“Just being there doesn’t make him guilty,” Nicholson said of his client.
Although the store’s display cases block anyone from seeing the gunman as he actually fires the weapon, the prosecutors told jurors the video and the location of the spent shell casings prove Farris was the only possible shooter.
The video shows no one else within four feet of the victim at the time the shots were fired and the angles the bullets entered White’s vehicle show they had to have come from Farris, Melissa Williams told jurors. The fact the empty shell casings fell roughly two feet from each other and so close to White’s body support the video’s images showing Farris running toward White and then away from the scene.
That physical evidence also supports the testimony of Thurman Williams, the prosecutors said.
Thurman Williams testified Wednesday he had seen Taylor, Silver and the White brothers arguing at Club Tequila earlier in the evening and he witnessed Farris shooting White after he stopped to buy cigarettes at the store.
Nicholson, who has a law firm in Lubbock, reminded jurors that three women, Claudia Perez, Barshavia Wallace and Endaisha Loudermill testified they didn’t see White arguing with anyone at the bar that night.
Perez testified she saw Taylor arguing with Treginale White that night, leave and return with a gun. However, she told jurors she, Wallace and Loudermill were already fleeing the parking lot in her car when the shots rang out so she doesn’t know who fired the shots. Wallace and Loudermill testified they didn’t see the shooting, either.
Nicholson also pointed out White’s brother, Roderick White, told police an hour after the incident the man who fought his brother and later shot him had braids and was wearing a tan and burgandy shirt. Farris is clearly wearing a blue shirt on the surveillance tape.
When being questioned by the state, Roderick White blamed his emotional state for the confusion. Yes, he identified Taylor as the man who fought his brother that night, but he did not shoot his brother, he said.
While George is awaiting trial on a murder charge in the case, authorities have never been able to locate Silver or Taylor. Nor have the men been charged. Farris’ girlfriend, Myessha Morill, is also awaiting trial. According to prosecutors she sent money to Farris in California prior to his arrest through Silver. She’s been charged with hindering apprehension.
Roderick White told jurors he came to Odessa from Lubbock to celebrate his birthday with his brother. He testified both of them had been members of the Bloods criminal street gang and had spent time in prison, but they were trying to put that life behind them.
Treginale had been out of prison for about 18 months after serving nearly 20 years in prison for murder and was going to church and supporting himself by collecting and selling scrap metal, Roderick White said.
“He was trying to transform his life into something different,” he said.
The night his brother died, they’d spent about two hours at Club Tequila and one of Treginale’s friends asked them to follow her to a nearby 7-Eleven, but he wasn’t sure what the plan was after that, Roderick White said.
After they got to the store, Roderick White said he stepped out of the car to smoke a cigarette and his brother began chatting with the girl. Shortly after that, a man in braids interrupted the two and he and Treginale began to argue over the girl and it escalated when the man in braids addressed Treginale as “cuz” which is an insult in the gang world, Roderick White said.
About that time, Roderick White said he and another man began exchanging words and when he turned to go toward the store’s entrance the man “sucker punched” him in the back of the head.
Over the next few moments, Roderick White testified he and the man identified as Silver began to fight and he could hear his brother fighting with the man identified as Taylor.
“The next thing I know there was shots ringing out,” Roderick White testified.
Nicholson’s only two witnesses were Perez and Wallace, who he called back to the stand.
Both women testified again they didn’t see Silver or Taylor at the bar, nor did they see Treginale White arguing with anyone at the bar.
As they were climbing in the car, the women said they heard several shots and they took off. After a few seconds, they decided to return to check on White. Both said they were so focused on getting into the car, they didn’t see anyone arguing or anyone with a gun.
Dr. Tasha Greenberg, a deputy Tarrant County medical examiner, said White sustained three gunshot wounds. One grazed the area between his nose and upper lip, one entered a nostril and exited his left cheek and the third entered the top of his head.
The case is being presided over by visiting Judge Rodney Satterwhite.
