BEAUMONT, Texas — A Jefferson County jury has sentenced a 25-year-old Port Arthur man to 22 years in prison for the 2022 murder of a 31-year-old Beaumont man.
The jury sentenced Ronald Demard Babino Jr., 25, of Port Arthur on Wednesday morning, April 18, 2024. The punishment phase of the trial began last week immediately after the jury found him guilty on Thursday.
Deliberation by the jury on Babino's punishment began last Thursday but due to a scheduling issue they could not continue the next day. Deliberations resumed Wednesday morning, April 18, 2024..
He had faced from five to 99 years or life in prison.
Babino showed no reaction as the verdict was read last week. He stood stoically as Judge Raquel West read, "We the jury find the defendant Ronald D Babino Guilty of murder as charged in the indictment."
Opening statements in the trial began Tuesday afternoon in Jefferson County's 252nd District Court.
Babino along with Charles Verdine and a 16-year-old were all indicted for the shooting death of Richard Shillow of Beaumont.
Babino is the first of the two men to stand trial in the first degree murder. It is unclear at this time if the juvenile has been adjudicated yet.
During opening statements from prosecutor Tommy Lamar Coleman told jurors that the evidence would show that Babino was part of a conspiracy to rob Shillow at gunpoint to steal drugs and guns.
Coleman described the robbery and murder as an ambush telling jurors they would see some of it on surveillance video.
Defense attorney William Marcus Wilkerson told jurors the prosecution was making a lot of assumptions saying, "boy, that was some story, wasn't it?"
Wilkerson told jurors evidence would show Babino would have had no way of knowing a homicide was going to happen during the robbery.
The prosecution needed to prove Babino "intentionally and knowingly" committed the crime he told jurors.
The jury was selected on Monday afternoon.
Beaumont Police responded to a shooting at the Virginia Estates Apartments in the city's south end on the morning of March 27, 2022. They found Richard Shillow suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.
He was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital where he later died.
Security footage revealed two men walked up to Shillow's parked car, opened the passenger door, and fatally shot him, court documents say.
The footage showed two men running into a silver Infinity with paper tags on them, according to a probable cause affidavit.
During the investigation, detectives received information alleging that the silver Infinity with identical suspects was involved in an auto theft of a GMC truck at Cardinal Drive and 4th Street in Beaumont.
The victim involved in the carjacking was able to track his truck by using his cell phone, which was left inside at the time of the theft. Officers located the stolen truck and tried to pull the driver over before a "lengthy" car chase started.
Two suspects stayed with the truck and were arrested while three of the suspects ran from the truck. The three suspects were captured with the assistance of a Beaumont Police K9, according to a 12News file story.
Two other suspects, both 14-year-old boys, involved in the incident were initially charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and evading police on foot.
Babino later admitted to being the driver of the silver Infinity that was waiting for the suspects after the shooting.
