A jury convicted appellant Charles Xavier Howard of capital murder and the trial court assessed a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole...
Appellant, along with his friend Justin Richards and a prostitute named Rocy Williams, decided to target random Hispanic men and rob them of cash to use to buy drugs. After two unsuccessful attempted robberies of other Hispanic men, Williams lured complainant Juan Jimenez to pull his car over and she got in his front passenger seat. Appellant and Richards, posing as Williams's security, got in the back seat and Jimenez began driving. According to Richards and Williams, appellant unexpectedly pulled out his gun a few minutes later and shot Jimenez once in the right side of the head from the back right passenger seat, after which the group dumped Jimenez's body in a remote area and burned his car and clothes.