GUILTY TX - Reginald Carmen, 55, shot to death, Pearland, 8 Dec 2005

The jury found [Ashton Carmen] guilty of murder, returned a negative finding on the special issue of sudden passion, and assessed his punishment at life confinement...

Appellant was born prematurely to a mother who had used crack cocaine during her pregnancy. Although he initially lived with his mother, who continued to use cocaine, appellant‘s maternal grandmother was his primary caretaker. When he was about six years old, appellant went to live with his father.

The next year, appellant‘s father whipped appellant with a belt, causing bruising on the side of appellant‘s body. After a teacher discovered the bruises, appellant was taken to the hospital. Child Protective Services removed appellant from his father‘s custody and placed him with his mother. Six months later, after appellant‘s father had completed anger management classes, appellant returned to live with his father.

In the years before his father‘s death, appellant‘s behavior and grades in school deteriorated. His father, being a strict disciplinarian, meted out punishments, which included whipping appellant with a belt and prohibiting him from seeing his friends. Appellant attempted to run away numerous times.

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