FORT WORTH -- A 34-year-old Fort Worth man was convicted Friday of killing a woman during an argument fueled by paranoia after sleepless days on a meth binge.
A Tarrant County jury deliberated nearly eight hours over two days before finding Frank Byrd guilty of murder in the shooting of Hilary Eaton, a 39-year-old mother of three who had given Byrd and his girlfriend a place to stay.The sentencing phase of the trial began Friday afternoon and is scheduled to resume Tuesday in state District Judge Scott Wisch's court.The maximum sentence on a murder charge is life in prison with the possibility of parole.Eaton was found dead Jan. 7 in her house in the 1300 block of Kings Highway on the border of Fort Worth and Haltom City. Byrd's former girlfriend, Nora Price, 33, testified this week that Byrd shot Eaton during an argument. He was paranoid and hadn't slept for days while high on methamphetamine.On Friday afternoon, Frank Byrd's mother, Vickie McCullough, testified that when her son was 6 or 7, two men broke into their house.One raped her at knifepoint while the other forced Byrd into the bathroom.McCullough said she believes that her son was sexually assaulted."No one talked to Frank and asked what happened to him," McCullough said. "Frank just locked it up for a very long time. But his anger increased. His aggression increased. The people he looked up to betrayed him."Byrd's record includes convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated sexual assault of a child. Byrd, his father and McCullough all have been addicted to methamphetamine, according to testimony.Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752Twitter: @mitchmitchel3Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
