HOUSTON – A Houston man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally beating his girlfriend to death in 2018, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Tuesday.
Marcus D. Lockett, 36, was sentenced Monday after being found guilty of murdering 31-year-old Latara Sanders on Aug. 6, 2018.
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“Far too often we see cases like this, in which domestic violence turns into a murder,” Ogg said. “In general, domestic violence escalates, and that’s why we work to get victims any help they need at the first sign of violence.”
Authorities said family members found Sanders’ body at the home the couple shared in the 5600 block of Yale two days after she was killed.
Police found and interviewed Lockett days later after his mother called police to alert them that he said he and Sanders had gotten into a fight and “it had gone too far.”
After he was convicted by a Harris County jury in a four-day trial, Lockett requested that he be sentenced by the judge instead of the jury. On Monday, state District Judge Brian Warren handed down the 40-year sentence.
“They were in a relationship for over 18 years,” said Assistant District Attorney Helen Le, who prosecuted the case with William Orr. “We often don’t know everything that happens behind closed doors, like in this case, but this is the worst-case scenario of what can happen in domestic violence cases.”