Jury sets 12-year prison term in 2019 Brazos County home burglary

A Brazos County jury has sentenced Shemar Lakeith Darnell, 25, to 12 years in state prison and a $1,000 fine for a home burglary committed in September 2019, the Brazos County District Attorney's Office said in a release Friday.

Jurors convicted Darnell of burglary of a habitation on Wednesday, Oct. 28, after deliberating for roughly 45 minutes, and the same jury decided his punishment later that day, according to the DA's office.

The case

According to the release, a woman came home from work on Sept. 25, 2019, and found that someone had broken into her house and taken her televisions and jewelry. Prosecutors said police learned Darnell had pawned two of those TVs within hours, and that he told a detective he was there when the home was broken into.

The release does not say where in the county the home is.

Sentencing

Darnell had no earlier felony convictions and could legally have been given probation, the DA's office said.

In the punishment phase, prosecutors told jurors about at least five arrests after the 2019 case, plus two offenses that came before it, and presented evidence that he had five different guns in his possession at various times, including incidents that involved stolen guns and the firing of a weapon, according to the release. The release does not say how those later arrests were resolved.

Assistant District Attorneys Kara Comte and Abby Goodman tried the case. "Every family in Brazos County deserves to feel safe inside their own front door," the two prosecutors said in a statement, adding that the sentence "sends a clear message that home break-ins won't be tolerated."

The release does not name Darnell's defense attorney or say whether he plans to appeal, and a response from the defense was not available.

Sources

brazoscountytx.gov

wtaw.com

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