Jurors to decide sentence in Fort Worth caulk-gun homicide

Twice in his life, Jim Harvey Opry has been accused of murder.

The first time, he was 17 when he shot a 14-year-old girl in the face at a New Year’s Eve party in 1992 at his family’s Harris County home.

Last year, Britney Eylar, 22, was fatally injured when Opry threw a large caulk gun toward her as she prepared to leave his Fort Worth residence on the evening of New Year’s Day 2015.

Both times, he has said, the deaths were accidental.

And in both cases, he eventually pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge.

In Harris County, he accepted 10 years of deferred adjudication probation in a plea agreement. This time, a Tarrant County jury will decide the 41-year-old man’s sentence.

The sentence range is five years to life in prison.

On Tuesday, jurors began hearing testimony in the punishment phase of Opry’s trial.

In opening arguments, David Alex, who is prosecuting the case with Allenna Bangs, told jurors that Opry is a member of the Aryan Circle, a white supremacist gang, and his history shows he is “manipulative, dangerous and deadly.”

“You must put him away so he’ll never hurt another person in the free world again,” Alex told jurors.

Attorney Mamie Bush Johnson, who along with Stephanie Gonzalez was appointed to defend Opry, told jurors that the Opry had renounced his gang membership and will take the stand to tell jurors what happened as Eylar left his house, the effect of her death on him and about his other criminal convictions.

Johnson said Opry was upset when he learned that Eylar, whose longtime friendship had only recently turned into a live-in relationship, had called another man to pick her up from the apartment where they had been staying. She said Eylar was loading her belongings into the man’s car when Opry threw the caulk gun toward the car but accidentally hit Eylar in the head.

“He never intended to hurt Britney,” Johnson insisted.

Johnson said that when Opry realized he had hit Eylar, he frantically ran to help and comfort her. The other man asked him repeatedly to call 911, but Opry refused because of his prison record.

“He’s just trying to figure out a way to make things OK, thinking she’ll be all right,” Johnson told jurors.

Eylar’s friend left the scene and called 911 himself, reporting that a woman had been injured and that it might be gang-related.

According to court documents, Eylar’s friend refused to give dispatchers his name, number and how Eylar was injured. He later told investigators that Opry had threatened his life and indicated he was a gang member.

Some of Eylar’s relatives cried Tuesday as police officer Jeffrey Jensen described finding Eylar unresponsive on her back, staring into the with her head resting on an outside staircase. He said that as he drew closer, he could see what appeared to be blood and brain matter leaking from a head wound that he initially suspected had been caused by a gunshot.

“I remember staring directly in her eyes, asking her, ‘Who did this to you?’ ” Jensen testified. “She stared at me with just a blank stare. Nothing else was said.”

Eylar never regained consciousness and died Jan. 9, 2015, after being taken off life support.

Opry pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge on April 20.

Charles Smith, a retired detective with the Humble Police Department, testified Tuesday about the death of Cristie Casanover on Dec. 31, 1982.

Smith told jurors that Casanover had been among teens at a party at Opry’s Atascocita home while his parents were away.

He said Opry, then 17, had been handling a 12-gauge shotgun inside the home. Twice, he cocked the weapon, pointed it at people and pulled the trigger, laughing when it clicked.

He then pointed it at Casanover as she sat on the living room couch and did the same, but this time the gun discharged and struck her in the face, Smith testified.

Opry and friends loaded the girl’s body into the trunk of a car and dumped it in a cistern in a heavily wooded area in Humble, Smith said.

Jurors were shown photos of Casanover’s body, submerged in the green, stagnant water with only a hand and knee visible above water.

Smith said a witness initially indicated that another man was involved in Casanover’s death but later admitted Opry shot Casanover. Other people at the party gave similar accounts about what happened and a search of Opry’s home found a hole in the couch, a bloody couch cushion and an area where efforts had been made to clean the carpet.

In her opening statement, Johnson told jurors that Casanover’s shooting was the tragic result of teens playing Russian roulette with a shotgun that they didn’t realize was loaded.

“Young and dumb, doing stupid stuff, and somebody died,” Johnson said.

Smith testified there was no indication that anyone other than Opry was pointing and pulling the trigger.

Although arrested on a murder warrant, Smith said, a Harris County grand jury later indicted Opry on a manslaughter charge.

Opry pleaded guilty in exchange for the deferred-adjudication probation sentence. But his probation was revoked when he was charged with aggravated assault for attacking a girlfriend, and he was sent to prison. He has also served time in on weapon convictions and evading arrest.

Steve Lair, a Carrollton gang investigator assigned to a national gang unit task force, testified that Opry is a documented Aryan Circle or “AC” gang member whom he believes was still active in the gang despite going through a prison gang renouncement program at age 35.

Lair said Opry had been a high-ranking member of the gang, was still affiliated with AC members and has AC and white supremacy-related tattoos covering his arms and chest.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Wednesday in Criminal District Court 3.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Jurors to decide sentence in Fort Worth caulk-gun homicide."