A Texas Army veteran who was convicted of murdering a Black man in a racially motivated shooting in 2021 was sentenced last week to 40 years in prison but avoided a life term from the judge, which could set him free after serving half the time.
Christopher Lee Powell, 36, of Killeen, was found guilty in the murder of 37-year-old San Antonio resident Ibrahim Malik Suarez, who was gunned down during an argument at a gas station in Converse, Texas, on April 9, 2021.
District Judge Frank J. Castro handed down the sentence on Feb. 7, requiring Powell to serve at least 20 years for the crime before he becomes eligible for parole.
Prosecutors said Powell killed Suarez in cold blood, after which he called 911 and told the dispatcher a “[N-word] threatened my life.”
“Christopher Powell rolled his window down and shot and killed a man who was walking away,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales said in a statement to the San Antonio Express-News. “The jury told us that Mr. Suarez died needlessly and provided justice for Ibrahim Suarez and his family.”
Powell, who is white, had been free on bond as the trial played out, but he was led away in handcuffs following the verdict, which the jury returned in just 3½ hours.
During the trial, jurors were shown surveillance footage of the deadly encounter as the two strangers crossed paths inside a Circle K store before a heated confrontation at the gas pumps.
There, the two men argued for a moment before Powell got in his car and rolled down the window to continue the verbal spat, the video showed.
As words were exchanged, Suarez — still standing outside — flipped his middle finger up at Powell as he prepared to drive away.
Suarez then followed Powell’s car out of the parking lot, and the beef continued at a traffic light further down the road, video shows.
Another security camera recorded Suarez as he got out of his car at the intersection along a rural farm road…
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