Man charged with murder over parking at Walmart flees before sentencing, TX officials say
A man charged with murder cut off his ankle monitor and vanished before his sentencing, prosecutors said, according to news outlets.
KTRK reported that Christopher David Hernandez was on trial after he was accused of shooting Joshua Lazard after a dispute over a Walmart parking spot in 2022.
Hernandez cut his ankle monitor off and fled instead of attending closing arguments, the verdict or his sentencing on March 26, prosecutors told KPRC.
Hernandez was given a life sentence, the outlet reported.
The killing took place in a Houston-area Walmart parking lot in August 2022, according to KHOU.
Police told the outlet that Hernandez, who was 23 at the time, and 32-year-old Lazard got into an argument over parking. When both men headed toward the store’s entrance, Hernandez shot Lazard multiple times, police said. Lazard was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Hernandez then walked into the Walmart, where he was arrested, KHOU reported.
Lazard’s father, Robert Dennis, told KRTK that justice was served by Hernandez’s conviction.
“Just turn yourself in,” he urged Hernandez via the outlet. “Be the man that you (were) when you killed my son. Now, be the man you’re supposed to be and do the time that the people have given you.”
