Jurors on Friday convicted 23-year-old Teddrick Batiste of capital murder for shooting Horace Holiday while trying to steal the man’s car for his spinning rims.
The jury is expected to begin hearing evidence Monday in the punishment phase, including allegations that Batiste killed a tattoo parlor owner in an earlier robbery. Batiste faces the death penalty in the April 19, 2009, shooting of Holiday.
After the jury reached a guilty verdict, Holiday’s mother, Lisa Harmon, said a quiet, “Thank the Lord,” as she left state district Judge Ruben Guerrero’s courtroom.
“Justice has been served,” Harmon said. “I’ve been waiting two years to hear this verdict.”
Although seeing the evidence in court was painful, Harmon said, Batiste’s conviction will give her family closure and her son peace.
In a videotaped statement jurors saw during the trial, Batiste said he donned a ski mask and shot Holiday several times.
“I tensed up, and I shot,” Batiste told police hours after the shooting. He was sitting, hands cuffed behind his back, in an interview room.
