HOUSTON — A Houston man is going to prison for shooting and killing a shoplifting suspect on Easter Sunday in 2022.
A jury convicted Antonio Batres, 23, of murder and a judge sentenced him to 35 years in prison.
Batres was working as a Family Dollar store clerk when he fired 12 shots at shoplifter Troy Odom, 49.
“Mr. Odom didn’t have a gun or a weapon, he was not the first aggressor, and was walking away when he was fatally shot on Easter Sunday,” Assistant District Attorney Heather Axline said. “They may have exchanged words, but words, even threats, are not enough to justify deadly force, and the jury rejected any suggestion that this was self-defense.”
The shooting happened outside the store on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in southeast Houston on April 17, 2022.
Odom was shoplifting several bottles of motor oil when Batres confronted him.
Odom tried to go out the front door so another employee locked it to keep him from leaving.
Odom and Batres then got into a physical fight and that's when the clerk pulled out a semi-automatic pistol. Odom returned the merchandise and the doors were unlocked so he could leave.
Odom was walking away when Batres followed him outside and opened fire. The victim was struck in the arms, legs and torso and he collapsed on the sidewalk.
Batres then went back inside and called 911 to report the theft. He waited several minutes before telling the 911 operator that Odom was shot.
“Gun violence in Harris County is out of control because of situations like this in which someone thinks they can take a life because they are mad,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “The victim in this case had a family and was loved, and he should still be with us today.”
Batres must serve at least half of the prison sentence before he will be eligible for parole.
