In Fort Worth court address to brother’s killer, woman describes her forgiveness
It was approaching 9:30 on Monday morning, and a state district court in Tarrant County was warming up for docket, a weekly legal cattle call in which the status of criminal cases is, in a whirl, reviewed to be sure that they are on a course toward disposition.
Most of the people in the gallery were there on matters other than the one that brought the Austin family. Bailiffs and a magistrate on the bench were unaware that a short proceeding for the Austins’ benefit had been added to the schedule.
A week earlier, Joshua Patterson and a prosecutor had agreed on terms, and the 23-year-old defendant pleaded guilty to murder.
There was one last element of justice to complete.
About a dozen relatives of Reginald Austin Jr. filed into the courtroom on Monday morning and took seats across two wood benches.
A sheriff’s office deputy directed Patterson, who shot Austin to death in an east Fort Worth pool hall parking lot, from a holdover room just outside the courtroom to a chair at the defense table.
After a few minutes, the allocution got underway. The post-judgment sessions are one-way, off-the-court-record opportunities for victims — or in the case of homicides, their relatives — to say something to defendants before they begin a sentence, often in confinement.
Reginald Austin Sr. walked to the witness stand.
He took a long look at Patterson and said nothing.
The room was silent.
“I’m Reggie’s father,” he began.
The 56-year-old man suggested he was confounded that the “new generation” would let a parking lot fight result in a killing.
“I just want to let you know, man, you really hurt — you really hurt us.”
Reggie was involved in a fight on Oct. 17, 2023, inside a pool hall on Brentwood Stair Road near Loop 820 and Interstate 30. A crowd of people spilled out into the parking lot.
Reggie, who was 31, was punched and then shot in the chest.
The fight and shooting were recorded by a surveillance camera.
The video shows a man approach Reggie and raise his hand. A muzzle flash can be seen before Reggie falls on the ground.
The assailant had long hair and was wearing a white T-shirt, black shorts, black shoes with white soles and a black bag.
Officers at the scene just after the shooting used the video to search for suspects and found Patterson, whose clothing and bag were consistent with the surveillance video of the shooter.
In an interview with two Fort Worth Police Department homicide detectives, Patterson admitted to being at the pool hall, Halftime Billiards, around the time of the killing, according to the affidavit supporting his arrest warrant. The affidavit does not refer to any other statements that Patterson may have made.
Last week, in accepting the offer, Patterson acknowledged that he was the killer.
Adhering to a plea agreement that the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office reached with Patterson, Magistrate Erin Cofer sentenced him to 28 years in prison.
If a jury had found Patterson guilty of murder at trial, the panel would have been directed to consider a prison term of five to 99 years or life. If it found that Patterson was under the influence of sudden passion, the jury would have considered a term of two to 20 years.
Patterson will become eligible for parole when he has served half of the sentence.
Reginald Austin Sr. said that 28 years was not enough. “You took a life,” he told Patterson.
The father said he would try his best to forgive. With that, he stepped down from the stand.
It was Reggie’s big sister’s turn to speak.
“I was raised to believe that God is a forgiving god and today, I’m choosing to forgive you,” Candra Wilburn told Patterson. “Not because the pain is gone, and not because losing my brother will ever make sense. My heart still breaks every day, for my nieces, my nephew, my mom, dad and the rest of my family who love and miss Reggie daily.
“I forgive you because my brother deserves to be remembered with love and not anger, hatred or bitterness. I pray for you that God reaches your heart and changes your mindset. I hope that this time allows you to think, heal, grow and become the man that God ordained you to be.
“You took my brother from this world, but you didn’t take his spirit, his laughter, his smile, his silliness and the countless memories we’ve all shared with him [that] will live on forever.”
The allocution was over.
Patterson waved to his relatives as he walked from the room on the way to begin his sentence.
The Austin family filed out to the hall.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM.
