The 286th Judicial District Attorney’s Office is pleased to notify the citizens of both Hockley and Cochran Counties that their office has received notification that the Seventh Court of Appeals of Texas located in Amarillo, Texas has rendered the following decisions in recent unpublished opinions: - Payden Allen v. State, the Appellate Court affirms the trial court’s verdict of guilty and the jury-imposed sentence of 47 years incarceration in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a $4,000 fine. The original trial was conducted in Hockley County before Judge J. Pat Phelan in March of 2022, and jurors found that Payden Allen murdered his father, Brandon Allen, by shooting him in the head while he slept; and - Ricky Soto, Jr v. State, the Appellate Court affirms the trial court’s verdict of guilty and the jury-imposed sentence of 65 years incarceration in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The original trial was conducted in Cochran County before Judge J. Pat Phelan in May of 2022, and the jurors found that Ricky Soto, Jr. had committed aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14years-of-age.
The above decisions follow the previously rendered decision by the Seventh Court of Appeals wherein the court affirmed the conviction of the Appellant in the Hockley County case of Brennan Guerra v. State, which was tried before Judge J. Pat Phelan in November and December of 2021.
Jurors in that case determined that Brennan Guerra had murdered Anthony Delgado by shooting him in the torso, and imposed a sentence of 55 years incarceration in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a $10,000 fine.
This District Attorney’s Office shared their message that they will continue to follow its directive under the laws of the State of Texas to see that justice is done.