New Boston, Texas–A man who drove his victim to the hospital after shooting him in the back was sentenced to 18 years in prison Thursday by a Bowie County jury.
Barry Kendall Green, 35, entered a plea of guilty last week to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury at a hearing before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart but asked that a jury determine the punishment he should receive for shooting Michael Brad Hooks, 40, in the back with a 12 gauge shotgun Sept. 18, 2016. Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker asked the jury to sentence Green to 10 years or less and recommend probation.
In addition to the 18-year prison term, the jury hit Green with a $5,000 fine.
Green’s former girlfriend, Cherie Bourland, testified Wednesday that she had threatened to become again romantically involved with Hooks during a verbal argument with Green shortly before the shooting. In a videotaped interview with Bowie County Sheriff’s Office investigators, Green said he told Bourland, “You ain’t gonna have the chance.”
Green grabbed a neon green shotgun and headed to Hooks’ house in a Suburban. Green lived on County Road 4239, just a short ride to Hooks’ home on County Road 4240. Green wrecked the Suburban in a ditch at the end of his driveway and walked back to his house to get his mom’s pickup, according to testimony Wednesday. Green stayed in the truck as he spoke with Hooks, who stood on his porch.
Hooks testified he decided to end his talk with Green by going back in his home but was knocked to the ground by the blast of a gun he never saw. Green loaded Hooks in the truck and drove him to a Texarkana emergency room as officers from BCSO, Texarkana, Texas, Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and others followed, trying to get him to pull over. But Green didn’t stop until he reached the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital in Texarkana, Texas.
Hooks lost a kidney and an adrenal gland to the shotgun blast. He suffered from a collapsed lung, a punctured diaphragm and two fractured ribs also.
Thursday the jury heard testimony from Green’s ex-wife, Lacy Meyer, who said Green was abusive to her and became increasingly threatening after they separated, similar to the testimony heard Wednesday from Bourland.
Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker asked the jury to consider Green’s lack of a prior criminal history and the remorse he immediately showed by quickly taking Hooks for medical treatment. Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards asked the jury to sentence Green to prison.
“He’s out of control,” Crisp argued in closing remarks.
Richards told the jury to “shave a couple of years,” for taking Hooks to the hospital but implored them to take Green off Bowie County streets.
“Barry Green has a history of violence, especially towards women, as demonstrated by the evidence considered by this jury,” Crisp said. “The Bowie County District Attorney’s Office is grateful to the jury in this case for the lengthy prison sentence. Because of the use of a deadly weapon, this defendant will have to serve at least half of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.”
