HOUSTON — A 40-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison last week for killing his ex-girlfriend in 2020.
In addition to his life sentence, Robert Joseph Roberts was hit with a $10,000 fine.
"This is a heartbreaking example of how dangerous domestic violence can be, especially when a woman is trying to get out of a bad situation," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
Roberts killed 31-year-old Jazmine Simone Garrett on Oct. 28, 2020.
Roberts and Garrett had only dated for about three months while they were both living in Houston earlier that year. They ended up breaking up over abuse allegations and Garrett moved to an apartment in Baytown while Roberts moved to New Orleans.
Before the shooting, Roberts drove from New Orleans to her apartment in Baytown. He got there around midnight but didn't see her car in the parking lot, so he met a friend in Spring.
He convinced his friend to bring him back to her apartment complex on Northwood Drive and they got there around 4 a.m. on the day of the shooting.
Once they got there, Roberts put on a mask and staked out the apartment where Garrett was living. He was even seen on surveillance video lurking around her car.
About an hour later, Garrett left her apartment to go to work. Roberts approached her once she got to her car and they talked for a few minutes. Then, Roberts opened fire, shooting her three times, killing her.
"This man thought he should be allowed to control a woman he had a brief relationship with, and when the relationship ended, he executed her in cold blood," Ogg said.
After the shooting, Roberts walked back to his friend's car and they drove back to Spring. Roberts then drove back to Louisiana.
Baytown Police Department investigators were able to identify Roberts through surveillance video. They also tracked his cellphone, revealing his location before, during and after the shooting. Investigators also interviewed the friend who drove him to the apartment. He told them what happened that night.
"This was an ambush, a planned-out execution, of someone he could no longer control," Assistant District Attorney Matthew Magill said. "Once he lost that control of her, he ended her life in a calculated and premeditated hit."
The trial lasted five days.
