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Jessie Clifford Brown (left), 42, was given 40 years in jail for the 2015 homicide of John Allen Franco (inset), 24, final Friday … this based on Regulation&Crime.

On Could 15, 2015, deputies from the Gregg County Sheriff’s Workplace responded to what at first seemed like a automobile crash, as Franco’s automobile — together with his physique inside — was found in a ravine. Authorities shortly decided Franco’s accidents “weren’t in keeping with a motorcar accident,” earlier than an post-mortem dominated he died from a single gunshot wound to the pinnacle.

One among Franco’s daughters, who was 2 on the time, and one other ladies had been within the automobile with him on the time of the incident. The lady, based on a warrant obtained by the Longview Information-Journal, claimed that whereas they had been stopped at an intersection, a person jumped out of a truck behind them and ran as much as Franco with a gun. She described the three males within the car as “nation trying.”

“When the shot was fired, Franco, who was the driving force, had the car in reverse,” Gregg County First Assistant District Lawyer Stacey Brownlee instructed PEOPLE. “And when he was shot, both as a result of he was injured, and had some sort of reflex or deliberately put the truck in reverse, it drove off into the ravine.”

In August 2017, somebody tipped off the sheriff concerning the three males within the different car, naming Brown and two different males. One of many males then spoke with authorities, revealing what allegedly went down the night time Franco was killed.

Per Brown’s arrest warrant, the person mentioned Brown “needed to assault Franco as a result of Franco had threatened to indicate nude photographs of (Brown’s) stepdaughter,” who Franco beforehand dated. In keeping with Brownlee, Franco allegedly despatched a textual content to the stepdaughter of a nude photograph, which prosecutors interpreted as a menace he was going to share them additional.

The person additionally allegedly mentioned they then waited for Franco’s car, earlier than driving round looking for him. As soon as they did, the person claimed Brown “approached Franco’s driver’s aspect window and struck the window with the gun,” earlier than he “subsequent heard what he described as a ‘loud growth.’”

Per the witness, the trio fled the world, however the returned to the scene later that night to seek out it flooded with emergency autos. Whereas there, a bystander instructed them Franco had been murdered.

Brown was arrested in October 2017 and entered a not responsible plea at first of his trial final month.

In closing arguments, Brown’s protection lawyer mentioned, “folks stand up right here they usually lie,” earlier than making an attempt to solid doubt that his consumer was the shooter. “If somebody kills somebody, you are going to preserve the weapon?” he requested. “You are going to put it in a standard place that you’d every other weapon at your own home? You are going to not throw it in a lake someplace to get proper of it?”

“Folks get discovered responsible of issues they did not do on a regular basis,” the lawyer added, per KLTV video.

It took the jury simply two hours of deliberation to come back again with a responsible verdict.