Teen Gets 119 Years For Murder, Aggravated Assault

Fort Bend County resident Miguel Angel Navarro, 18, has been sentenced to a total of 119 years in prison for a murder and aggravated assault he committed when he was 15 years old. Navarro was certified to be tried as an adult in 2008. 

Navarro

The jury convicted Navarro after less than two hours of deliberation. Navarro was sentenced to 99 years for the murder and 20 years for the aggravated assault.

Fort Bend County’s Chief Juvenile Prosecutor Tyra McCollum said that on December 27, 2007, Navarro, his brother and friends arrived at a party held by Matthew Haltom at Haltom’s house in Katy.  Haltom was home from college on Christmas break and was celebrating the holidays with friends.  After Navarro was asked to leave, a verbal confrontation occurred followed by a fight.  The defendant fatally stabbed Matthew Haltom, 20, and critically injured Joe Eodice, 21, who was hospitalized for a week after the attack. 

Despite the fact that neither Matthew Haltom nor Joe Eodice used a weapon, Miguel Navarro claimed he stabbed his victims out of self defense and defense of his brother, who was also involved in the fight. 

In the punishment phase of trial, Navarro pled for mercy because of his young age; however, his long history of “assaultive behavior” led the jury to sentence him to the maximum punishments allowed by law. 

“We are pleased with the verdicts and the jury’s apparent message that regardless as to the age of the offender, the punishment will fit the crime,” said McCollum.

“The lives of many people were forever changed by virtue of a lack of restraint and thought,” said Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey. “Tragically, the Haltom’s lost a son to murder and the Navarro’s forever lost a son to the penitentiary.  I hope that the pain Miguel Navarro inflicted on both families may make other children think twice about carrying weapons.”

Navarro was tried in the 240th District Court before Presiding Judge Thomas R. Culver, III.  Murder in this case is a first-degree felony punishable from 5 to 99 years or life in prison and a fine up to $10,000.  Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon is a second-degree felony punishable by 2-20 years in prison and a maximum fine up to $10,000.  By law, the two sentences will run concurrently.

A certification hearing is the legal process for removing a juvenile from the juvenile justice system in order to prosecute him as an adult.  Navarro was certified as an adult in 2008 in County Court at Law #2, sitting as a juvenile court, before now-retired Judge Walter S. McMeans. 

The court found that there was probable cause the crimes were committed and that Navarro’s personal circumstances warranted his removal to the adult offender system.