HOUSTON – A man found guilty of the murder of an 8-year-old in 2017 was sentenced to 78 years in prison Wednesday, according to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. He was found guilty of the crime after a jury deliberated for 8 hours Tuesday.
In Feb. 2017, 8-year-old De’Maree Adkins was asleep in the backseat of her mother’s car when she was shot and killed after a wreck near the intersection of Fuqua Street and Beltway 8.
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De’Maree’s mother, Latoyia Thomas, told police at the time that a white Pontiac Grand Prix and a dark four-door sedan were speeding down West Fuqua Street. The speeding Pontiac collided into a Honda Accord carrying the child and her mother, who were traveling through the intersection of the Sam Houston Parkway feeder and Fuqua Street.
Investigators said Thomas told them the driver from the Pontiac she had crashed into hopped into the four-door sedan and a window of the sedan rolled down and a woman began shooting at the car.
Later, Jacobe Payton, who was 19 years old at the time, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with De’Maree’s death.
Payton didn’t show emotion Tuesday as the verdict was read by the judge and as each juror affirmed it. There was an audible “yes,” heard from the courtroom where De’Maree’s family members sat in attendance.
After Payton was led out of the courtroom, De’Maree’s family tearfully celebrated the verdict.
“There was a weight lifted, knowing that I can’t bring her back from this verdict but it’s the fact that some justice will be served. Somebody had to pay for what they’ve done,” said Detram Adkins, De’Maree’s father.
He chose not to give a victim impact statement.
During the trial, prosecutors highlighted the pain and anguish Thomas said was caused after her daughter was killed.
Payton’s defense attorneys reminded jurors that Thomas had said the shooter was a woman on multiple occasions. Thomas told jurors she thought Payton was a woman because he had long dreadlocks at the time of the shooting.