Man with no apparent motive sentenced for killing victim at cookout and fleeing with his mom

ATASCOSA COUNTY, Texas (TCN) -- A man will spend five decades behind bars for killing another man at a cookout several years ago.

In a news release, the 81st Judicial District Attorney's Office announced that a judge sentenced Charles Morgan on June 23 to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in April to the murder of Guadalupe Anguiano III.

On Sept. 6, 2021, the defendant, his mother, Anguiano, and others living on the same property were cooking out together when "without warning and with no apparent motive," Morgan shot the victim in the chest at close range. He fled the scene with his mother and tried to get to Louisiana.

According to prosecutors, Morgan had been released from prison just one day before the shooting.

Witnesses reportedly identified Morgan as the suspect. The Texas Department of Public Safety later took him and his mother into custody.

The district attorney's office said Morgan had also tried to delay trial by "feigning mental illness." While at a mental health facility, Morgan and other residents reportedly used parts from an automatic blood pressure machine to make weapons and caused a "riot situation." Prosecutors allege that the defendant "calculated violent attacks on other residents to the point that one requires continued neurological monitoring."

Morgan’s mother received eight years in prison for her role in fleeing.

The defendant's sister reportedly "testified and described Guadalupe, as most everyone did, as a sweet, kind man."

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