A Texas gang member, known to authorities and under GPS surveillance while out on bond for a previous capital murder charge, has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The man, Desmond Hawkins, 23, was found guilty of the brutal murder of an 11-year-old boy and his stepfather in October 2020.
Hawkins was convicted for the fatal shooting of young Dominic Sumicek and his stepfather, Menuell Solomon, 41. The victims were sitting in Solomon’s car outside their residence when the incident occurred. The jury delivered a swift verdict late Monday, following a two-week trial, resulting in an automatic life sentence without parole for Hawkins.
The tragic incident unfolded when Solomon and his stepson returned home. Hawkins, who had been loitering around Solomon’s driveway, had cut a hole in a chain-link fence and waited for over three hours for Solomon to arrive. As Solomon backed his car into the driveway around 4:30 p.m., with Dominic in the passenger seat, Hawkins emerged from his hiding spot and opened fire, shooting the boy twice and Solomon four times.
The boy’s mother and Solomon’s wife, Krissi Garcia, expressed her grief over the loss of her son and husband. She described Dominic as a sweet boy who was just 11 years old. She lamented the loss of an innocent child, stating that such an act was unfathomable.
District Attorney Kim Ogg echoed Garcia’s sentiments, stating that the murder of a young boy with his entire life ahead of him was a result of a ruthless ambush in broad daylight. She affirmed that the appropriate sentence for such a heinous crime was life imprisonment without parole.
Hawkins was out on bond for the 2016 capital murder of John Pye at the time of the double murder. His GPS monitor revealed his movements around Solomon’s driveway on the day of the murder. Surveillance footage from nearby cameras also showed Hawkins running towards the murder scene, wearing the ankle monitor.
The motive behind Hawkins’ targeting of Solomon remains unclear, according to prosecutors. Local media reported that Solomon was a YouTube rapper known as “Montana22.”