Man Convicted of Killeen’s Murder Asks to Hold Baby for First Time | Local news

Mann was booked into the Bell County Jail on May 15, 2023, after being taken into custody by US Marshals. He was being held without bail Monday afternoon following a sentencing hearing in the 426th Judicial District Court.

“Today, I will find you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of first-degree murder,” Judge Steve Duskie said during the 15-minute hearing Monday afternoon. “The plea agreement comes with a sentence recommendation of 35 years and I will follow the agreement.”

After the judge handed down the sentence, Mann’s attorney asked the judge for a special consideration: that Mann be allowed to hold her baby for the first time. Duskie quickly explained that no physical contact with a defendant is allowed once a guilty plea has been accepted by the court.

“That’s my policy and I’m not changing it today,” Duskie said.

Around 10 a.m. on May 8, 2023, Killeen Police were dispatched to a shooting that had just occurred at the Star Mart in the 3600 block of Zephyr Drive. Around the same time, a similar call was received “that the shooting victims had traveled in a private vehicle to a nearby residence and additional officers responded to that location,” according to an affidavit. “Officers learned that three people were suffering from gunshot wounds. One of these (victims) was identified as Brownlow, who had been shot in the torso. He appeared dead at the scene, but life-saving measures were attempted.”

Brownlow was airlifted to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Cavazos, where he died.

“Officers reviewed surveillance video from the store which shows Brownlow, Keimari Hughes and Marquell Gadison-Thomas arriving in a white Nissan, entering the store and approaching the counter,” according to the affidavit. “While at the counter, Hughes notices another person who was already in the store and his demeanor changes noticeably. The three leave the store, get back into the vehicle and (start to) drive out of the parking lot.”

As the vehicle begins to drive away, police said the man inside exits the store, pulls out a firearm and fires into the vehicle. More than 20 .40 caliber bullet casings were found near the store’s entrance, and the car was later found to be riddled with at least 10 bullet holes.

Police used the same surveillance video to establish that Mann was a suspect. The video shows Mann and a woman arriving on foot, leading police to believe they lived nearby. The woman can be heard in the video calling the man “Donovan,” police said.

“Other information received during the investigation indicated that the shooter was an individual who lived on Dugger Circle in Killeen, which is close to the store,” police said. “Officers searched databases for people who met these criteria and found that Mann lived in Dugger Circle. Officers obtained a driver’s license photo (of Mann) and he looked a lot like the person in the surveillance video.”

The store clerk identified Mann from a photo lineup.

The two men with Brownlow have either been convicted or are facing unrelated criminal charges. Hughes was sentenced in May to five years in prison for robbery. Gadison-Thomas is due to face a jury in October on two unrelated felony charges.

Brownlow’s mother, Rachel Dees, spoke to The Herald on Friday after Mann pleaded guilty. She contacted the newspaper because she disagreed with the plea deal that had been negotiated between the state’s attorney and Mann’s defense attorney.

“I told the DA’s office that I’m not comfortable with the plea deal, but what I think doesn’t matter,” Dees said. “The case against Mann is proven beyond a reasonable doubt by video and audio evidence. It is a solid case of premeditated killing of a child.”

During her victim impact statement on Monday, Dees — dressed in black — stood on a podium and directly confronted Mann, who was sitting at the defense table and dressed in orange prison-issue clothing.

“You asked to hold your baby while I can never hold mine again,” Dees said.

Dees began her statement by saying she did not believe Mann felt remorse for killing her son, who was 10 days away from his 17th birthday.

“I think you should be in prison for the rest of your life,” she said. “What you did doesn’t make sense because you never even met Sonny. You killed him because you didn’t like someone else in that car. Our lives are changed forever. Sonny’s future was taken away by you and 35 years is no justice for the cold-blooded murder of my son.”

The Herald contacted the Bell County District Attorney’s office following Monday’s sentencing hearing.

“It is impossible to imagine the pain Sonny’s mother must be feeling,” Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza said in an email Monday. “No sentence, no matter how long, can make up for her loss. Each case is evaluated based on the existing facts and circumstances, and it is then the district attorney’s duty to seek justice, which requires a careful and impartial review of the evidence and facts. In this case, the prosecutor felt that 35 years was an appropriate sentence. This makes the sentence final as he has waived his right to appeal and the defendant will now be sent to prison.”