Hollis Daniels III pleads guilty in capital murder case
Hollis Daniels III on Monday stood before District Judge John McClendon and pleaded guilty to capital murder in the October 2017 fatal shooting of Texas Tech police officer Floyd East Jr.
Minutes before a 16-person jury entered the courtroom to hear opening arguments and testimony in the trial, Daniels and his attorney, Mark Snodgrass, approached the bench and informed the judge of Daniels' intent to plead guilty in the case.
McClendon briefly swore in Daniels, who told the judge he knew the consequences of his decision and affirmed that he was voluntarily entering his plea.
The trial immediately entered the punishment phase. Since Daniels' plea wasn't part of a deal with prosecutors, the death penalty is still on the table.
Daniels has been held at the Lubbock County Detention since Oct. 10, 2017 arrest a few hours after a gunshot rang out in the Texas Tech Police Department briefing room. He admitted to shooting East, who had arrested him on an unrelated drug charge.
East, 48, was a native of El Paso who began his career with the department on Dec. 2, 2014 as a guard at Texas Tech’s University Health Sciences Center while attending El Paso Community College Law Enforcement Academy to obtain his basic peace officer license. He was survived by a wife and two daughters.
Defense attorney Chip Lewis told jurors in his opening statement that his client, who is expected to testify at his trial, was no longer the same person who shot and killed Floyd East.
He said the evidence "Will illustrate that this young man was no where close to being in his right mind when he shot and killed officer East."
He told jurors he plans to present evidence that will show his client was struggling with severe depression, drug addiction that caused him to spiral out of control, leading to his actions the night he killed East.
"It will be readily apparent to each and everyone of you that the combination of depression, suicidal thoughts, mind-altering drugs, a loaded gun, along with the most unfortunate circumstances outside of Officer East's and (Daniels') control led right up to the senseless, avoidable, tragic death of officer Floyd East," Lewis said.
He said there were "abundant red flags" that showed his client was on a path of destruction that were ignored, including multiple calls to the university's crisis hotline by Daniels' friends and roommates warning that he was suicidal and had the means to follow through with his plans.
However, he said that information was never given to police officers until after the shooting.
Lewis said Daniels' parents also ignored a psychologist's recommendation that he shouldn't return to school and instead get more intensive therapy for his mental health. Instead, he said his client's mother went to a family doctor to get a prescription for antidepressants.
"Instead of the obvious need for extreme, acute medical intervention, this kid is left speeding down this destructive track that is going to crash into an unsuspecting, good, new, hardworking officer without warning," he said.
Prosecutor Laura Beth Fossett told jurors in her opening statement that Daniels' plea was a plan to show he's accepting responsibility for killing East.
She said she anticipated that defense attorneys would show them jail records that indicated Daniels was a model inmate in the five years he's been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center.
"You better believe he has behaved," she said.
Fossett said it was "too little, too late."
The crime itself was enough to show that Daniels was a future danger, which would warrant the death penalty in the case, she said.
Fossett told jurors they will see video of the cold-blooded shooting that ended East's life, comparing it to a scene out of a horror movie.
"You just want to yell out at [Officer East] to get out of the way," she said.
Fossett said the evidence will show Daniels was given every opportunity in life to succeed but still ended on a path that ended with him killing East.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Hollis Daniels III pleads guilty in capital murder case
