A man responsible for the senseless killing of truck driver has been sentenced to 70 years in prison.
The incident occurred back in May of 2015, but the sentence was handed down on Monday, October 30th, 2017, in Fort Worth, Texas.
According to The Star-Telegram, on May 7th, 2015, at approximately 1:30 a.m., 25-year-old Lendon Lee Adams arrived at the Quik Trip Gas Station at 5700 Bryan Irvin Road in a white 2009 Mustang. Adams then entered the store and attempted to buy alcohol, but the clerk would not let him, as it was past the time for the legal sale of alcohol, and Adams left the store “calmly.”
Adams then circled the gas pumps several times before driving towards a tanker truck driven by 29-year-old Jonathan Luevano, who was in the passenger seat doing paperwork.
After spotting the truck driver in his rig, Adams opened fire, shooting and killing Luevano, before driving away.
Approximately 2 hours later, before anyone realized what had happened to Luevano, Adams was confronted by Benbrook police for driving erratically in a parking lot. Police cited Adams for possession of drug paraphernalia and released him.
Luevano’s body was then found, and a description of the crime and vehicle involved were released. Upon learning of the description, the Benbrook police officers alerted the Fort Worth homicide detectives of their encounter with Adams, and officials began searching for him.
Adams was found out on the road in the same white Mustang, and was taken in for questioning. Despite the discovery of two handguns in his vehicle, Adams continued to deny all involvement in the murder.
He was arrested the following day after ballistics tests confirmed that it had been Adams’ bullet that had killed Luevano.
During the trial, Adams’ defense attorney’s argued that Adams suffers from “a severe mental illness that caused him to be under a delusion that he was under attack,” causing him to shoot Luevano.
Despite Adam’s attorney’s request for leniency, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering the innocent trucker.
“With proper mental health treatment, this would not have happened,” said Joetta Keene, one of Adams’ attorneys.
“Now two families have lost their sons. I really hope that one day we realize as a society that we can do better in how we fund mental health in our state. So many crimes would not even occur if we did,” Keene continued.
Adams will not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years.
“The only thing Jonathan Luevano did wrong was be a hard worker,” added Lead investigator Detective E. Pate.
