BELTON — It was June 18, 2019, and four men were driving up and down Fleetwood Drive with guns in their car, looking for a fight. Another man was busy washing his truck in the driveway of his home when the sound of gunfire pierced the neighborhood.
It was a random encounter that would have deadly consequences for 28-year-old Luis Angel Santiago Jr., who died at a local hospital that day after being shot in the legs and torso.
Now, those four men — three of whom were members of the Long Branch Boys, a Killeen street gang — have been sentenced to a total of 105 years behind bars.
On Thursday afternoon, in the 264th Judicial District Court, the fourth co-defendant, Javonte Jervar Washington was sentenced to 20 years in prison with credit for the over 850 days that he already served in juvenile detention and the county jail.
He pleaded guilty on May 4.
Now 19 years old, Washington was 15 years old at the time of the incident, but the state’s prosecutor said that he was the catalyst that led to the violent death of Santiago.
“Javonte Washington was on Fleetwood Drive with family and friends with guns to pick a fight he knew he could win,” said Assistant District Attorney John Erskine, on Thursday afternoon, in his closing arguments. “When they couldn’t find that person, who lived on Fleetwood Drive, they picked the next easiest target. Luis Angel Santiago didn’t do anything to deserve to get shot. Javonte Washington deserves every year of 25 years in prison to reflect on the cost of taking someone’s life.”
Washington’s defense attorney asked the court to impose a sentence of 10 to 15 years, below the upper limit of 25 years allowed under the plea agreement.
“His behavior was unacceptable and there must be consequences,” said Michael White, in his closing arguments. “But he was a juvenile at the time and he has done everything asked of him while out on bond. I believe he can be rehabilitated and do something with his life and not follow in the footsteps of his father and brother.”
Javonte Washington is the last of the four men to be sentenced after pleading guilty.
His older brother, Shyheem Jubar Washington, 24, was sentenced last month to 30 years in prison. In January, LePak sentenced Eric David Madden, 25, to a term of 30 years in prison.
The first of the three co-defendants to be sentenced was 50-year-old Dexter Garvard Washington, who is the father of Javonte and Shyheem Washington. On Aug. 5, 2022, Dexter Washington was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Javonte Washington had been out of jail on bond for around two years but was taken back into custody after the sentencing this week. He was being held on Friday with no bond listed on the first-degree felony charge.
‘NO MORE HAPPINESS’
Before making his decision, LePak heard from the mother of the victim and the defendant.
Mirabel Gonzales of Killeen told the court on Thursday that her family has not been the same since June 18, 2019.
“Everything changed,” she said. “There’s no more happiness. There’s sadness, anxiety and depression. I have nightmares.”
She attended the court hearing with her surviving two sons, who are in their 20s.
“My sons were all very close,” Gonzales said. “They went to the park to play basketball, went to the movies and listened to music. They talked about everything.”
Gonzales said that Luis was helpful in taking care of his brother who had become disabled after suffering a stroke.
“He cooked, cleaned and dressed his brother; I didn’t have to worry about anything when he was there,” she said. “He’d just hug me and tell me everything was going to be all right.”
Gonzales was at the home, drawing a bath for her disabled son, when she felt the concussion of gunfire.
“I went outside and that’s when I saw him on the ground,” she said, in tears on the witness stand. “I ran to him and begged him to get up and not to go. I wanted him to stay with me.”
JUNE 18, 2019
Killeen police on June 18, 2019, were dispatched to the area of Fleetwood Drive and Greengate Drive after receiving numerous 911 calls about gunshots. There, police found a man with gunshot wounds to his legs and torso, according to the arrest affidavit. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
Hours after the shooting, a Chrysler that witnesses described was located traveling with a gold Nissan in the 3300 block of Stan Schlueter Loop. The four men were in the two cars.
“They located Shyheem Washington and Eric Madden in a vehicle, which police searched and found two handguns that (later) were linked to shell casings at the scene,” said KPD Detective Matilda Uvalle, during her testimony at Madden’s sentencing hearing on Jan. 17.
Police used witness statements and surveillance video to develop the four men as suspects.
Javonte Washington told the court during his testimony that Santiago just happened to be in the same neighborhood.
“We were just riding around,” Washington said. “I didn’t know him at all ... I’d take everything back.”
When asked by Erskine, Javonte Washington said he did not remember who had firearms and who was shooting.
“It happened so fast,” Javonte Washington said.
By the time the gunfire ended, at least 26 bullets had been fired.
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