CYPRESS – A 21-year-old Cypress man was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of capital murder, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Monday.
Officials said Christopher Rodriguez was 16 years old when he and another suspect, Faith Deleon, lured two 18-year-olds to a Cypress theater parking lot on New Year’s Day in 2017 by saying they wanted to buy a small amount of marijuana.
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According to reports, Daniel Gerding and Colyn Timmons met the duo at the Studio Movie Grill in the 8500 block of State Highway 6. Rodriguez and Deleon got into Gerding’s Toyota Camry and demanded money, officials said. Then, according to reports, Rodriguez shot Gerding twice in the back and when Timmons tried to get out of the car, Rodriguez shot him in the face.
Deleon and Rodriguez fled in their pickup truck and were arrested after an investigation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Gerding died and Timmons survived.
Deleon and Rodriguez fled in their pickup truck and were arrested after an investigation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Gerding died and Timmons survived.
Rodriguez was initially charged as a juvenile and then certified to be tried as an adult. He was convicted of capital murder on Friday after a week-long trial and was automatically sentenced to life in prison.
“This man made a cold-blooded plan to lie, rob and kill and then carried it out,” Ogg said. “A Harris County jury agreed that it was capital murder, and justice mandates that he spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Because he was a juvenile when the crime was committed, he will be eligible for parole after 40 years.
Deleon, who was 17 at the time of the crime, has admitted her guilt in the case and is expected to be sentenced by a judge on Oct. 4.