Endicott McCray -- the man found guilty of murder in a Downtown Austin shooting that killed a woman and injured four others in 2016 -- has been sentenced to 65 years in prison.
McCray got into an altercation with his brother-in-law when McCray pulled out a weapon and fired in the 200 block of 6th Street on July 31, 2016. McCray will be eligible for parole after 30 years and could get his sentenced reduced if he shows "good behavior."
He shot and killed Teqnika Moultrie, who was in town visiting, and walking out of VooDoo Donuts on 6th street at the time she was shot.
"I think we've got to where we need to be at, and right now this is the end of this chapter for us, as a family, it's time for us to move on, and heal, and I know Sabrina has a lot of that to do," said Moultrie's brother-in-law Timothy Volking.
"A case like this is tough, because no matter what happens we can't give these loved ones Teqnika back, what we can do is send a message, I think the jury did that," said prosecuting attorney Josh Reno.
Moultrie's wife, Sabrina, spoke to McCray in court Friday with a statement. She said "I think you're a horrible human being, and I hate you." She continued by saying she would do everything in her power to keep him in prison.
One of the other shooting victims, Desiree Torres, spoke in a statement to McCray saying that her life "forever changed that night."
"Looking at you this week, you did not show any remorse," said Torres to McCray. "You are not as innocent as your defense attorneys present you."
The sentencing phase of his trial began Friday morning with witnesses taking the stand.
The wife of Teqnika Moultrie took the stand, reflecting on the fact that "time doesn't make it better, it makes it worse."
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Moultrie died at the scene of the shooting that night.
"It's not fair," her wife said. "It's just not fair."
McCray's wife and mother also spoke in the courtroom, saying he generally avoids confrontation and that he typically thinks things through before he says things. His wife, Shante Walker testified that she will stay by McCray's side, even during his time in jail. They have two daughters together and she said he's a "wonderful father." She said McCray helped put her through school, and always made sure his family was taken care of.
McCray's mother said that he has always been a caring brother to his six sisters.
Both the defense and prosecution gave closing arguments, and rested their case around noon. That's when the jury began their deliberation.
During closing arguments prosecuting attorneys said, "You can't bring a loaded gun to 6th Street and kill people. He's a danger to our community and should not get out." Prosecuting attorneys went on to say, "he's a danger, he's a danger to our community."
But, defense attorneys said he's capable of redemption.
The judge instructed the jury to take into account McCray's previous burglary convictions. He was on parole at the time of the shooting.
Volking said they feel a little relief from the verdict.
"There's still a lot of emotion that we're dealing with, listen we wanted this to happen, we wanted him to be convicted, we wanted, that's the best, like again, that's the best society will allow us to punish him, and we got the best result out of it," said Volking.
He went on to say they feel McCray deserved the sentence.
"I think our opinion as a family is that he's an individual that has clearly shown lack of compassion, lack of any kind of being a reasonable good human being, I think all of us want a person to feel the pain that they caused, so hopefully he does feel that," said Volking.
"You never know what you're going to get from a jury, anytime you take 12 people from the community who aren't with a background in legal terms and things like that, but I think on a case like this when you have evidence that's that strong, to show such an egregious crime, so to say that you expect it, but you certainly hope for it, you're asking for a life sentence, life is calculated at 60, so I think that's a pretty strong message to Mr McCray," said Reno.
Reno told the jury in his closing arguments to send a strong statement to tourists, so that they know Austin's entertainment district is still a safe place to visit.
"That was one of my concerns, is what exactly is going on down there, and you know things like this are still unusual, but at the same time we want to be able to say that even on a case like this, Travis County jurors take this very serious, and I think that's what we heard today," said Reno.
McCray will be up for parole after 30 years.
Follow reporter Christy Millweard for updates from the courtroom:
