The Port Arthur News
BEAUMONT —
A Beaumont man was sentenced to 99 years in prison for a 2010 murder.
Christopher Michael Brown, 34, was sentenced on Friday to a term of 99 years in the state penitentiary in connection with the 2010 murder of Jimmy Hancock in the 1900 block of East Lucas Street in Beaumont.
Hancock was gunned down in his own residence in broad daylight at approximately 9:30 a.m., Monday, July 19, 2010. He suffered a total of 12 major and one minor gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital in an attempt to save his life, but efforts to save him were futile. An autopsy report showed that there were massive internal injuries due to the bullet wounds, and bullets recovered from both the victim and the crime scene were matched to a .40 caliber pistol that was recovered based upon the statements of a co-defendant, according to a press release from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.
Testimony was developed during trial that Brown believed Hancock may have been responsible for an assault on a member of Brown’s family, but during the police investigation it was determined that the victim of that assault said Hancock was not the person who had attacked him.
Immediately after the shooting, Brown fled Beaumont and was located in Sugarland and he was arrested four months later. Video footage from a store across the street from the Hancock residence showed Brown and two companions (who were also indicted as co-defendants) pull into the store parking lot. Video showed Brown exiting the truck and going across the street. Moments later he was seen running back to the truck with an object in his hand that appeared to be wrapped up in a white cloth, and then driving off. That object was identified by the co-defendants as the weapon that had been used to kill Hancock.
Prosecutor Bobby Ortego said to the jury, “This was a case that involves a total disregard for the value of a human life. It was a planned execution. If you do not send a strong message by your verdict, then no one is safe anywhere”.
Brown has previous felony convictions for aggravated assault and possession of cocaine (twice). He must serve 30 years of his sentence before he can be considered for parole, and the sentence also included a fine of $10,000. The case was tried before the Criminal District Court, Judge John Stevens presiding.
