Jessie Clifford Brown, a 42-year-old Texas man, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of John Allen Franco, 24, who allegedly threatened to release nude photos of Brown’s stepdaughter. This incident took place in 2015 in Liberty City, Texas.
According to court records, the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office initially responded to what was believed to be a car crash on May 20, 2015, near Old Highway 135 and Small Wood Road.
When deputies arrived, they found Franco suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, which an autopsy later confirmed as his cause of death. Franco’s car had his daughter, who was 2 years old at the time, and a female passenger who later described the events to the police.
The woman told authorities that while driving, a blue truck attempted to run them off the road. Franco stopped at a light, and three men reportedly exited the truck, approaching Franco’s car.
One of the men, armed with a gun, struck the driver’s side window, prompting Franco to reverse. At this moment, the woman heard a loud noise as the driver’s side window shattered, and Franco was hit. The car eventually crashed, and the woman called 911. Franco was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The case remained unsolved for nearly two years until a tipster came forward identifying the men involved, including Brown. The tipster revealed that Brown had been enraged by Franco’s alleged threats to expose intimate images of Brown’s stepdaughter, with whom Franco had reportedly been in a relationship.
According to the warrant, a man with Brown that night recounted how they had driven around searching for Franco, mistakenly stopping at a house they believed was his before eventually locating him.
During the trial, one witness stated that Brown walked up to Franco’s vehicle, struck the driver’s side window with the gun, and then a shot was fired, after which the group fled. Brown’s defense attorney, Richard Hurlburt, suggested that Brown’s actions weren’t indicative of guilt, noting that Brown had not disposed of the gun and instead kept it at home.
However, prosecutor Stacey Brownlee argued that Brown’s decision to approach Franco with a loaded weapon, then strike the car window, showed clear intent and a disregard for human life.
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Ultimately, the jury convicted Brown of murder, leading to his 40-year prison sentence for the violent incident fueled by personal retaliation and ending with Franco’s death.
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