Jury finds man not guilty of capital murder, murder in North Texas double homicide
A jury on Monday acquitted on self-defense grounds a man who was indicted in connection with a double homicide in White Settlement in 2021.
Christopher Avington was found not guilty of capital murder and murder in the shooting deaths of DeAndrew Bentley, 26, and Trevon Hampton, 25.
A legal advisory on the circumstances under which self-defense may justify an offense was included in instructions to the jury at the trial in the 396th District Court in Tarrant County.
Under the defense’s interpretation of the facts, Bentley and Hampton heard on the streets that Avington intended to rob them. They invited Avington to Bentley’s apartment to intimidate the defendant with a pellet gun that looked like an a rifle, and Avington shot both men, according to defense attorney Blake Burns.
Burns and Brett Boone were appointed to represent Avington.
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Tarrant County Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Matt Rivers and Jasmine Banks prosecuted the case.
The jury deliberated for about an hour and returned the verdict just after 5 p.m.
Avington, who is 21, was 18 and lived in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, at the time of the homicides.
It is not clear whether the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office pursued in juvenile court a delinquency petition against a suspect, then 16, whom White Settlement police described as Avington’s accomplice. A case is not currently pending.
Bentley and Hampton were shot to death on Feb. 9, 2021, about 3:45 a.m. in the unit at the Parque Vista Apartments in the 8500 block of La Plaza Drive, according to an police-produced affidavit supporting Avington’s arrest warrant.
Eight people, including at least four children, were at the apartment for a family gathering. No one beyond Bentley and Hampton was injured.
A man who was in the bathroom during the shooting told police he heard Avington earlier in the day discussing robbing people and saw him showing a handgun, according to the affidavit.
Bentley’s girlfriend identified Avington as the shooter from a group of photographs.
Scott Wisch was the presiding judge.
