A former sheriff's deputy in Texas has been convicted of murdering his girlfriend and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Jay A. Rotter, a former deputy with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, was found guilty of the 2020 slaying of Leslie Hartman, authorities announced.
Hartman, a popular artist in the area, was paraplegic and used a wheelchair to get around daily due to injuries suffered in a car crash when she was younger.
Rotter called 911 in August 2020 and reported that Hartman suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside her home. Once there, first responders found Hartman dead. She and Rotter were the only individuals at the home at the time Hartman suffered the fatal gunshot wound.
Investigators took Rotter into custody and charged him with Hartman's murder about a month after the shooting.
Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Rotter had sent text messages on the night of Hartman's death that indicated he was planning to harm her. They also presented evidence that Rotter had been using drugs and was in a "mood" on the night of the murder.
Rotter's defense attorneys argued that the messages he wrote on the night of Hartman's death were about a milk bottle he had shot in the backyard. They also emphasized that there was no history of domestic violence between Hartman and Rotter.
The jury reportedly only deliberated for about three hours before voting to convict Rotter.
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