Midland man receives life without parole in capital murder trial

MIDLAND COUNTY, Texas (KOSA) - Midland County District Attorney Laura Nodolf announced that a 31-year-old Midland man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison and 20 years after being found guilty by a Midland County jury.

Kionne Devaughn Lewis was charged with capital murder and aggravated assault. After evidence lasting most of the week, the jury found Lewis guilty of both charges Thursday after more than an hour of deliberating.

The State was not seeking the death penalty for capital murder, so the sentence after the jury’s guilty verdict was an automatic term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. That sentence was assessed by Judge David Rogers, who also imposed a maximum 20-year sentence for the Aggravated Assault charge.

According to the Midland DA’s office, evidence presented in the case showed that the defendant killed his former girlfriend, 28-year-old Travae Monique Jackson, after breaking into her West Midland apartment on Sept. 27, 2021. After killing Ms. Jackson, Lewis then used her cell phone and pretended to be her in order to lure another man, Matisse Guidroz, to the apartment. Once Mr. Guidroz arrived he was shot twice by Lewis but managed to escape and notify police.

Lewis ran from the scene but was apprehended the next day in Roswell, New Mexico, and brought back to Midland where he has remained in custody until the trial.

The case was investigated by the Midland Police Department with assistance from the Texas Rangers.