HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A retiree was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting a man to death during an argument over a handicap parking spot in 2017.
What happened
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On the evening of May 31, 2017, 69-year-old William Anthony Hall got in an argument with 67-year-old James Garza over a handicap parking spot at the U.S. Post Office at 4020 Broadway.
Hall confronted Garza after Garza parked his car in a handicap parking spot at the post office.
Even though Hall initiated the confrontation, he told police he shot Garza because he felt threatened.
“Mr. Garza was going about his business when Mr. Hall decided to take the law into his own hands,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “That sort of vigilantism is never acceptable in Harris County.”
Who is Hall?
Hall has a concealed handgun license.
“People who carry guns legally have just as much responsibility as anyone else,” Ogg said. “That license does not give you a license to kill. You still have to follow the law and if you don’t, you’re going to be held accountable just like everybody else.”
He was convicted of murder earlier this week.
Who was Garza?
Garza was an attorney.
He had stopped at the post office to pick up mail from his post office box.
What evidence said
There was no surveillance video of the shooting, but Hall told investigators that Garza physically assaulted him so he shot him once in the chest.
An envelope that Garza was holding had a bullet hole in it, leading investigators to believe he was holding it against his chest when he was shot.
Acting as vigilante
Assistant District Attorney Mary McFaden, of the Elder Abuse Section, said during the trial that Hall was acting as a vigilante when he took the law into his own hands for an offense that is a minor misdemeanor.