A 23-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to 55 years in prison after admitting to shooting and killing his girlfriend last year in view of a federal agent watching their apartment as part of an armed robbery investigation.
Mauriece Hendrix, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since his March 14, 2024, arrest appeared with his attorney, Matt Morrow, in the 364th District Court and pleaded guilty to a count of murder in the shooting death of 22-year-old Ariel Cade in the 1300 block of 65th Drive.
The offense carries a punishment of five years to life in prison. However, District Judge William Eichman upheld an agreement between the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office and Hendrix to sentence him to 55 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.
He will have to serve half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
As part of his plea deal, an aggravated robbery charge filed against him was dismissed.
Investigating an armed robbery at a Lubbock gas station
Hendrix’s charge stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation after an agent with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, helping Lubbock police investigators search for Hendrix in connection with an armed robbery four days earlier, called detectives, saying he saw Hendrix shoot Cade in the head while they were arguing outside their apartment, according to court documents.
Hendrix was identified as a suspect in the armed robbery of a gas station in the 2000 block of 50th Street after investigators tied him to fingerprints found on the store’s cash register.
The robbery, which was caught by the stores’ security camera, showed the robber approaching a store clerk at the counter to make a purchase. However, when the employee opened the cash register, the robber drew a handgun from his waistband, pointed it at the employee and demanded money from the register.
The employee said the robber walked around the counter and emptied the cash register, stuffing the stolen money into a black bag.
The robber also stole a handful of cigarillos on his way out of the store.
Investigators believe Hendrix used in the robbery a .40 caliber handgun with a laser sight that was reported stolen in a home burglary two days before.
Meanwhile, after the federal agent reported the shooting, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene and found Cade suffering a life-threatening injury.
Cade was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she died.
Meanwhile, Hendrix, who was seen wearing a blue flannel shirt, a blue beanie and dark pants, ran away.
A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter arrived and spotted Hendrix near the 1300 block of 58th Place.
Officers on the ground spotted Hendrix, who ran northbound.
He was caught shortly after and arrested. Investigators found the blue flannel shirt and the beanie he wore during the shooting in an alley in the 1300 block of 60th Street.
A search of Hendrix yielded two handguns, one of which was reported stolen.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock man sentenced to 55 years in girlfriend’s shooting death
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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