Paul Devoe Sentenced to Death

A Travis County jury has sentenced Paul Devoe to the death by lethal injection for the murders of 15-year-old Haylie Faulkner and 17-year-old Danielle Hensley. The jury listened to testimony all week from psychologists to family members of Devoe and the victims.

It took the jury only 19 minutes last Friday to convict Devoe of capital murder. This time the unanimous jury took just over 3 hours to deliberate for the sentencing portion. Devoe was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Paula Griffith and her boyfriend Jay Feltner in Jonestown, at a home where Hensley and Faulkner were also found slain.

Closing arguments in the sentencing phase was pretexted by Judge Brenda Kennedy instructions to the jury that Devoe could be sentenced to either life in prison or the death penalty. Prosecutors, Dayna Blazey and Gary Cobb, focused during closing arguments on Devoe's long criminal history and showed Devoe as a cold-blooded, calculated killer. They also emphasized that if Devoe was sentenced to life in prison he could possibly have access to drugs and alcohol and could continue to threaten others in prison.  

Defense attorney, Tom Weber used his time during closing arguments to showcase Devoe's good behavior during his time in prison. Weber emphasized that a Travis County Corrections officer, who supervised Devoe during his time in Travis County jail, testified he never demonstrated any bad behavior. The defense's last plea during closing arguments was persuade the jure to sentence Devoe to die in prison because there was no evidence that he posed a threat to anyone in prison. Prosecutors had to prove to the jury that there was a probability that Devoe could commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a threat to society in order for him to be sentenced to death penalty.

The last time a Travis County jury gave a defendant the death penalty was when Selwyn Davis was sentenced. Davis has been on Death Row since October of 2007.

To recap what happened during the Devoe trial click here .