Masked intruders who shot Fort Worth man in home invasion plead guilty to murder, robbery
A 26-year-old pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 death of a man in the commission of a home-invasion robbery, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
Cameron Jerrell Marble, at the time 22 years old, and two other men wore masks and broke into the Fort Worth home of David Plotts, 26, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office. Marble shot Plotts in the head and then fled with the two other robbers, authorities said.
Marble pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Thursday. He had faced a charge of capital murder if he had gone to trial, but the state was not seeking the death penalty, according to court records.
Another defendant, 25-year-old David Sharray Shelton, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated robbery in the case and was sentenced to 23 years in prison, according to court records. Shelton was indicted a charge of capital murder before accepting the plea agreement.
A third suspect in the case, 29-year-old Demetric Johnson, also was indicted on a capital murder charge and has a status conference scheduled in court on Tuesday, according to court records.
Officers responded to an apartment in the 2900 block of Phoenix Drive around 3:30 a.m. June 18, 2019, police said at the time. An investigation revealed three masked robbers had forced their way into the apartment by kicking in the front door before Plotts was shot.
Plotts’ mother, Lisa Ernesti, said she is thankful for the sentence because “the person who killed my son won’t be able to hurt anyone else today or tomorrow, not ever,” according to the DA’s office.
“I want peace and closure to all this,” said Steven Ernesti, father of David Plotts. “It has gone on too long and it needs to come to an end.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 5:06 PM.