DA’s office waives death penalty for men indicted in three Como afterparty killings
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office this week waived the death penalty as a possible punishment for the two defendants who are under capital murder indictment in connection with a mass shooting last year at a parking lot in the Como section of west Fort Worth.
Christopher Redic Jr., 21, and Brandon Williams, 20, fired guns upon a crowd and shot three people to death, prosecutors have alleged. Eight other people were also shot and survived.
The district attorney’s office filed the waiver on Monday.
If they are convicted of capital murder, Redic and Williams would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The defendants were arrested four days after the July 3 shooting and were indicted in September. Their cases are pending in the 297th District Court in Tarrant County.
The indictments allege that Redic and Williams committed murders of Gabriella Navarrete, 18, Cynthia Santos, 22, and Paul Willis, 18, as the defendants committed another offense, terroristic threat.
A gang quarrel motivated the shooting, Fort Worth police have said. An altercation immediately preceded the gunfire at an outdoor afterparty following a neighborhood celebration, police have said.
The 10 adults and one juvenile who were shot on Horne Street at Diaz Avenue were among several hundred people gathered about two hours after the end of ComoFest.
This story was originally published February 8, 2024 at 2:56 PM.
