AUSTIN, Texas — On Wednesday night, a jury found De'ondre White guilty of murder for the 2021 mass shooting on Sixth Street in Downtown Austin that killed 25-year-old Douglas Kantor and injured 13 others.
Earlier in the day, the court wrapped up final testimonies in the Sixth Street shooting trial. The jury finished hearing from Austin Police Department Homicide Det. Israel Pine and got to hear from White himself for the first time during the trial.
On the witness stand, White said he testified in this trial because everyone deserves to hear the truth.
White was charged with murder and 14 counts of aggravated assault for the 2021 shooting. The jury did not return a decision on the other charges.
The Kantor family’s attorney, Doug O’Connell, said it is unusual for a criminal defendant to testify because they are not required to, but since White is claiming self-defense, he said that’s why he would want to take the stand. But O’Connell said White’s credibility has come into question over the past two years.
“His credibility problem came in with the idea that if he was claiming self-defense. He probably would have and should have brought that idea to the detective when he had the opportunity, when he was being interviewed, and he didn't,” O’Connell said.
During his testimony, White said he felt threatened by the three men who walked up to his group of friends the night of the shooting. White said a man wearing a ski mask – whom the public has come to know as Tyshaun Degrate, who testified earlier this week – was reaching for a gun he had stored in his underwear. White said that’s when he shot at Degrate.
While White was on the stand, he admitted to deceiving detectives two years ago when he said he didn’t shoot at Degrate. He said back then he felt “scared,” so that is why he was not truthful with authorities.
The defense claimed White’s shooting was all done in an act of self-defense, but in the closing arguments, the state said White knew exactly what he was doing.
"He knew what he was doing with that gun. He meant to shoot it, he knew what would happen when he shot that gun,” said Jean Sullivan, the state’s attorney.
The state argued White should be held criminally responsible for murder because he did not act reasonably or responsibly when he shot the gun eight times toward a street of crowded people. White testified that he shot at Degrate because he was trying to protect himself, his friend group and the people that would be in the line of fire if Degrate started to shoot.
But when the state asked White if he considered the safety of the people behind Degrate, like Kantor, White said he was just focused on the immediate threat of Degrate in front of him.
The defense argued that White shouldn’t have had to wait to protect his life.
"You don't have to wait until the person has pulled the gun out and stuck it in your face and starts to pull the trigger before you pull the trigger,” said defense attorney Russell Hunt. “It's enough when you believe that he is going to use that.”
The court also got to see some of the text messages between White and his friend group the days after the shooting. One of White’s friends sent a message to the group saying, “Someone died from the shooting,” to which another friend of White said, “Dem dreads gotta go bro,” referring to White’s hair at the time.
The state pointed out the insensitivity of the messages between White and his friends after the shooting.
“On the 12th and 13th of June, Doug Kantor was fighting for his life, he was trying to survive because of those gunshot wounds that he sustained,” Sullivan said. “They [White and his friends] were joking. They didn’t think this was a big deal. That shows you that difference in state of mind that De’ondre White and his friends had compared to everyone else.”
Sentencing is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday.