CAMERON—The first of four defendants in the 2017 murder of Emily Hacker in Rockdale received a 50-year sentence Thursday in 20th District Court.
That’s what the prosecution had sought for 32-year-old Candice Nicole Jones of Rockdale.
Prosecutor Bill Torrey said Jones waived all rights to appeal as part of a plea bargain.
NEXT—Jones was one of four persons charged with the beating death of Hacker, 32, on Jan. 10, 2017, at 530 Coulter in Rockdale.
The second—32-year-old Edward Brannon Barry of Caldwell—is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 16. The prosecutor is seeking an identical sentence after Barry agreed to an identical plea deal as Jones.
Torrey said the other two—Ashley Yvonne Wesson-Zawadzke and John Stewart, 23 and 26 respectively at the time—agreed to testify against Jones and Barry and will be sentenced at a later date.
A fifth person, Kevin Cormier of Caldwell was charged with helping to move the body.
HEARING—Prosecutor Torrey called two witnesses at the sentencing hearing, investigator Anthony Robertson and Terri Wilson, mother of the victim.
Wilson also read a victim’s impact statement to Jones after the sentencing and a letter from one of Hackers sons was also read.
Jones’ attorney, R. Scott Magee of Round Rock, called one witness, psychiatrist Dr. Casey O’Neal.
Jones will be eligible for parole in 2044.
Torrey has pointed out “eligible” does not mean “entitled” and that Jones will have to appear before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which he termed “probably the most conservative administrative body in the world.”
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