Houston man who drove to Arlington to kill ex’s boyfriend and shot wrong man is sentenced
A man who in 2020 drove from Houston to Arlington to try to kill the new boyfriend of his child’s mother and ended up shooting the wrong person to death has been found guilty of murder.
Kendell Jerrell Morris, 26, was sentenced Wednesday by a Tarrant County jury to 27 years in prison for the death of Robert Cooley III, 24, according to court records. Cooley was gunned down in May 2020 in the parking lot of an apartment complex because he was a Black man with dreadlocks, the only description that Morris had, according to a warrant released by Arlington police.
Morris had never met the man he intended to shoot, his arrest warrant stated.
Cooley’s family said in an obituary that he was “an exceptional athlete” who won championships and created music under the name Cooley03.
“Robert also loved performing,” his family wrote. “He had a dream of becoming big in the music industry. He also had a gift for cooking which he learned from his loving mother and was a talented virtual arts artist.”
Morris was arrested soon after the shooting in Madisonville, near Houston, by a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety. An AR-15 rifle was found inside of his car, the warrant says.
The arrest warrant affidavit written by Arlington Detective Julia Hall provided this account of the shooting:
Video surveillance showed that Morris and another man were seen at a store in Edgebrook buying two .223 magazines the evening before the shooting.
Morris and an Arlington man who was dating the mother of Morris’ child had engaged in “adversarial conversations” over the phone prior to the shooting. The warrant did not provide details on those conversations.
Morris did not know what the Arlington man looked like, but he and a friend drove from Houston to kill him, according to the warrant. The only description Morris had was that he was a Black man with dreadlocks.
On the morning of May 4, witnesses reported seeing a white 2008 Nissan Altima parked in a space at an apartment complex on Bardin Greene Drive in Arlington. The car was later identified as being owned by Morris.
One witness lived with the Arlington man who Morris intended to shoot, according to the warrant, noting the Houston man was at the apartment complex where his intended target lived.
At some point, the witness saw Cooley walking in the parking lot. As she opened the door to enter her apartment, the witness heard several gunshots.
She turned and saw Cooley lying in the parking lot, and the Nissan Altima was gone.
A murder charge against the friend who was with Morris was dismissed Wednesday at prosecutors’ discretion, according to court records.
This story contains information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 3:36 PM.