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White Texas Teen Who Waited Three Months To Kill Black Man After Being Slapped for Calling Him a Racial Slur Learns His Fate.
A 21-year-old Texas man will spend the next 40 years in prison for murdering a Black man five years ago in a racially charged dispute that escalated into a deadly shooting.
Madison Meazell Simmons was arrested in February 2021 when he was 17, three months after he gunned down 40-year-old Melvin Ray Rogers Jr. in Nacogdoches, Texas.
The murder took place on Dec. 21, 2020. Police responded to Rogers’ home after they heard gunshots in the area, according to KTRE.
Madison Meazell Simmons was arrested in February 2021 when he was 17, three months after he gunned down 40-year-old Melvin Ray Rogers Jr. (Photo: YouTube screenshot/KLTV 7)
When they arrived, they found Rogers unresponsive in his home garage. He had been shot multiple times.
While on scene, investigators collected several spent shell casings from a 5.56 mm rifle.
Detectives believe that Rogers’ death was directly connected to a confrontation between him and Simmons that took place months before the shooting.
According to Nacogdoches County prosecutors, Rogers slapped Simmons after Simmons called him a racial slur.
Rogers seethed over the slap for months until he decided to take action. He visited Rogers’ home and shot at the house 30 times while Rogers was inside. Several of those bullets struck Rogers.
“Madison still held a grudge,” the arrest affidavit states, per The Daily Sentinel.
When Simmons’ home was searched on a warrant for an unrelated case, law enforcement found a 5.56 mm rifle on the property. The results of forensic tests indicated that the rounds that killed Rogers “were shot from the same weapon.”
Law enforcement arrested Simmons at a traffic stop in February 2021. He was charged with first-degree felony murder.
The murder trial for the now-21-year-old started on Aug. 19.
When jury deliberations began, state prosecutors and the victim’s family decided to offer Simmons a 40-year prison sentence.
Simmons accepted the offer and pleaded guilty.
“We are so very grateful to the family of the victim in this case,” Nacogdoches County District Attorney Andrew Jones said. “They have been beyond patient and understanding. Thanks to the Nacogdoches Police Department for their hard work on this investigation. It was a complicated case with a lot of digital evidence. And I know both sides are grateful to the jury for their service and for sitting and listening to the evidence.”
On a GoFundMe page set up to raise donations for Rogers’ funeral expenses, loved ones wrotethat Rogers was known for his “sweet disposition, his smile, and overall kindness.”
Madison Meazell Simmons was arrested in February 2021 when he was 17, three months after he gunned down 40-year-old Melvin Ray Rogers Jr. in Nacogdoches, Texas.
The murder took place on Dec. 21, 2020. Police responded to Rogers’ home after they heard gunshots in the area, according to KTRE.
Madison Meazell Simmons was arrested in February 2021 when he was 17, three months after he gunned down 40-year-old Melvin Ray Rogers Jr. (Photo: YouTube screenshot/KLTV 7)
When they arrived, they found Rogers unresponsive in his home garage. He had been shot multiple times.
While on scene, investigators collected several spent shell casings from a 5.56 mm rifle.
Detectives believe that Rogers’ death was directly connected to a confrontation between him and Simmons that took place months before the shooting.
According to Nacogdoches County prosecutors, Rogers slapped Simmons after Simmons called him a racial slur.
Rogers seethed over the slap for months until he decided to take action. He visited Rogers’ home and shot at the house 30 times while Rogers was inside. Several of those bullets struck Rogers.
“Madison still held a grudge,” the arrest affidavit states, per The Daily Sentinel.
When Simmons’ home was searched on a warrant for an unrelated case, law enforcement found a 5.56 mm rifle on the property. The results of forensic tests indicated that the rounds that killed Rogers “were shot from the same weapon.”
Law enforcement arrested Simmons at a traffic stop in February 2021. He was charged with first-degree felony murder.
The murder trial for the now-21-year-old started on Aug. 19.
When jury deliberations began, state prosecutors and the victim’s family decided to offer Simmons a 40-year prison sentence.
Simmons accepted the offer and pleaded guilty.
“We are so very grateful to the family of the victim in this case,” Nacogdoches County District Attorney Andrew Jones said. “They have been beyond patient and understanding. Thanks to the Nacogdoches Police Department for their hard work on this investigation. It was a complicated case with a lot of digital evidence. And I know both sides are grateful to the jury for their service and for sitting and listening to the evidence.”
On a GoFundMe page set up to raise donations for Rogers’ funeral expenses, loved ones wrotethat Rogers was known for his “sweet disposition, his smile, and overall kindness.”