HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — It took just 23 minutes for jurors to convict a man of capital murder for beating an Army veteran to death, said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Josue Angel Leal, 26, was convicted for the murder of Kevin A. Bartlett, a good Samaritan who opened his home to Leal for a few weeks.
Bartlett, who served in the First Gulf War and was a combat engineer assigned to the 1st Armored Division, VII Corps, Army, frequently housed homeless people who needed a place to stay.
The district attorney's office said Leal had lived at Bartelt's home off and on for a few weeks before Leal brutally attacked him in December 2015.
Leal was eventually caught by deputies driving Bartlett's car and the sneakers he had on matched the patterned injuries left on Bartlett's head and body from being kicked so viciously, the district attorney's office revealed.
Prosecutors said Leal was on parole at the time of the attack and had recently been released from prison after a four-year sentence for burglary.
Evidence presented at Leal's five-day trial showed that after Leal murdered Bartelt, he used Bartelt's credit card to buy Whataburger and a gaming console.
“This vicious predator should never again step foot in our community,” Ogg said.
Leal was automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following his trial.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alycia Harvey and Assistant District Attorney George Lindsey, who is an Army combat veteran and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“On the eve of this Fourth of July, the Harris County District Attorney’s Offices, along with the people of Harris County, were able to deliver justice for a veteran who was murdered not because he was a soldier, but, for his humanity,” Lindsey said.
