Man gets 8 years in prison for shooting, killing another man during argument

AUSTIN, Texas - A Travis County jury has convicted a man charged with the murder of another man in east Riverside last year.

25-year-old Adam Brown was convicted on April 16 of the 2024 murder of 44-year-old Christopher Rodriguez.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man shoots, kills another man after argument in Riverside: police

Adam Brown

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man shot, killed at East Riverside apartment complex

What we know:

The Travis County District Attorney's office says that Brown's trial started with jury selection on April 7.

On April 15, the jury began deliberations and then returned a guilty verdict the next day.

During the punishment phase, the defense argued "sudden passion." The jury agreed and sentenced Brown to eight years in prison, choosing to reduce the punishment range from first-degree murder to second-degree murder.

The DA's office says that the jury had found sufficient evidence of sudden passion during that punishment phase, so they were allowed to consider reducing the punishment range.

What happened in March 2024?

The backstory:

On Saturday, March 23, 2024, around 9:39 p.m., police responded to a shooting at The Patten West Apartments in the 2200 block of Wickersham Lane in east Riverside.

The caller said a person, later identified as Rodriguez, had been shot. Officers found Rodriguez at the scene, who was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Lifesaving measures were taken, but Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect was identified as Brown; officers found and detained Brown at the scene. Brown was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

According to the DA's office, Brown and his girlfriend had been walking their dogs when they got into an argument with Rodriguez after one of the dogs barked and lunged at him.

During that argument, Rodriguez allegedly threatened to kill the dogs and went to retrieve a tree branch. Brown and his girlfriend then went back to their apartment, and returned armed with a gun and a bat respectively.

Rodriguez threw a tree branch at Brown, but it missed him and caused no property damage, says the DA's office. Two witnesses immediately called 911 and one saw Rodriguez standing in the grass without any weapons in his hands when Brown shot him in the chest. The gunshot could be heard on the 911 call.

Brown later attempted to claim self-defense, asserting that Rodriguez had threatened him with a knife, bent down to reach for a rock, and sprinted toward him. However, the DA's office says that the evidence contradicted his version of events.