Jury sentences Fort Worth convenience store killer to death

By Dianna Hunt

dhunt@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH - Convicted killer Kwame Rockwell was sentenced to death by lethal injection Friday afternoon for the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old convenience store clerk during an early-morning robbery in 2010.

A Tarrant County jury deliberated for about 14 hours over two days before rejecting defense attorneys' request that Rockwell be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Rockwell, 36, was convicted of capital murder last week in the shooting of store clerk Daniel Rojas. A Mrs Baird's deliveryman, Jerry Burnett, who was stocking shelves at the time, was also shot in the head and died 10 days later.

The jury's decision was announced to a courtroom full of Rojas and Burnett family members, as well as members of Rockwell's family.

One female juror was in tears as the decision was announced to a packed house that included Tarrant County District Attorney Joe Shannon.

Before bringing in the jury, Visiting Judge Elizabeth Berry shook hands with the victims' immediate family.

Prosecutors Kevin Rousseau and Sean Colston had urged jurors to hand down the death penalty, saying Rockwell was a ruthless "cold-blooded" killer who shot the two men even after they tried to cooperate with the robbers.

Defense attorneys Mark Daniel and Tim Moore asked the jury to give Rockwell life in prison, saying he had not had a history of trouble with the law and could function quietly in prison life.

Rockwell's father, Kenneth Rockwell, made an emotional plea to jurors on Wednesday from the witness stand.

"Let him live," he said.

Defense witnesses had painted Rockwell as a gentle man who worked hard to rise from a car detailer to finance manager at several local large car dealerships.

Key evidence against Rockwell was a chilling surveillance videotape, which showed three masked men, two with guns, enter the Valero convenience store just after 6 a.m. on March 23, 2010.

A left-handed gunman took just a few steps into the store before shooting Burnett.

The gunmen then rousted Rojas from the store office and took him around the store at gunpoint while he collected cash from a bag in the store freezer and then from cash registers.

Rojas cooperated completely with the robbers, the video shows, but they shot him in the head as they turned to leave.

One of the masked men carried a gas can, and testimony indicated that the men intended to set the store on fire but couldn't get it started.

Burnett, 70, was covered in gasoline when he arrived at the emergency room, medical personnel testified.

Rockwell was not on trial for Burnett's killing.

Co-conspirator Chance Smith, who served as lookout man for the robbery, cut a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault. He received 20 years in prison in exchange for his testimony.

Smith identified Rockwell - who is left-handed - as the gunman.

Three other men are also facing capital murder charges: Randy Siebel of Granbury, identified as the other gunman; Tyron Thomas, identified as the man with the gas can; and Tim Thomas, who also served as lookout near a police station, Smith testified.

The jury deliberated 7 1/2 hours on punishment Thursday before being sent to a hotel for the evening.

The case was heard by Berry in Criminal District Court No. 4.