MANSFIELD, La. – A DeSoto Parish man has been convicted a second time for killing a Stonewall child.
A jury of Vernon Parish residents on Tuesday found Brian Horn, 47, of Keachi, guilty of first-degree murder in the March 30, 2010 death of 12-year-old Justin Bloxom of Stonewall.
The verdict was returned in DeSoto District Court after less than 15 minutes of deliberations.
The jury will move to the penalty phase Wednesday because a 12-hour break is required in capital murder cases between a conviction and the sentencing.
The same jury will hear more evidence then as they will determine if Horn should be put to death for the crime or spend the rest of his life in prison.
Justin, a North DeSoto Elementary School student, died of asphyxiation on the side of U.S. Highway 171 in Stonewall. Horn killed him after running out of gas in his green Action Taxi cab.
Horn enticed Justin by portraying himself as a young girl in text messages. He made arrangements to pick up Justin from the house of a friend on Douglas Lane where he had spent the night.
Justin’s body was found several hours after he was reported missing. It was in a shallow slough of water across the fence line where Red Bluff Road intersects with Highway 171.
This is Horn’s second trial; although that’s not been discussed in the court proceedings. The trial, which got underway June 19 with jury selection in Leesville, is being treated as Horn’s first trial.
He was convicted in 2014 for the same crime; however, a ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court vacated the conviction and sentence.
Opening statements and testimony began Friday afternoon in Mansfield. The proceedings continued over the weekend.
'COLD AND CALCULATED'
Closing arguments got underway Tuesday morning after Horn’s attorneys announced they were not calling any witnesses in his defense.
Assistant District Attorney Lisa Lobrano Burson told jurors the case against Horn was circumstantial because there were no witnesses to the crime. The one witness to Horn’s actions was Justin and he was no longer alive, Burson said.
The case, however, is about Horn’s “cold and calculated hunt” of Justin, she said.
Despite the circumstantial nature of the case, which was still damming, she said, there was evidence collected in the investigation that connected the two. Justin’s fingerprints were on the passenger window of Horn’s cab.
That and other evidence only connected one person to Justin’s death – Horn, Burson said.
She called Horn, a twice-convicted sex offender, one of the “dumbest kidnappers on the face of the earth” for running out of gas in his cab while committing a crime.
'UNINTENTIONAL KILLING'
Horn’s lead defense attorney, Michael Fiser, agreed the case was a painful one because it involved the death of a child. But he said the prosecution did not get “remotely close to proving first-degree murder.”
Like Burson, he pointed to the lack of witnesses to the murder. Still, he said there was no specific intent on Horn’s part.
Horn did not “plan any of this. … There was no plan to kill Justin,” Fiser said, adding Horn “simply reacted” to the events that unfolded.
Horn, who was spotted by dozens of people on the side of Highway 171, made no effort to conceal himself. He had ample opportunity to get out of the area, but he didn’t,” Fiser said.
He suggested Horn found himself with a “very confused” 12-year-old boy who was upset and fearful. Fiser said Horn panicked, pushed Justin against the cab and covered his mouth, realizing too late Justin wasn’t breathing.
He called Justin’s death a “tragic result of a lot of bad decisions,” an “unintentional killing” and a “tragic, tragic accident.”
“We can’t speculate someone into a death sentence,” Fiser said in his closing to the jury.
'HE SHOULD ROT IN HELL'
Those remarks prompted a sharp rebuke from Assistant District Attorney Lea Hall, who had another opportunity to review the state’s evidence for jurors. Hall said he was “astounded” by Fiser’s argument, but contended Horn was nothing more than a “child-raping, molesting perverted piece of garbage.”
Specific intent to kill can be formed in an instance, Hall said, adding if Justin’s murder wasn’t premeditated then why did Horn even contact Justin at all.
He reminded jurors the key to Horn’s taxi was found feet away from where Justin’s body was found. You can’t make a better connection to a crime scene than that, Hall said.
“That boy was in a struggle for his life,” Hall said of Justin.
Witnesses testified about Horn’s penchant for choking his sex partners and his convictions showed his like of young children, Hall said.
But Horn couldn’t let Justin go “because his sexual desserts are right there,” said Hall, telling jurors Horn had one arm around Justin’s neck while attempting to molest Justin with his other hand.
“Justin died badly and it deserves legal vengeance on that,” Hall said as he pointed to Horn. “That … I can’t say the word.”
Hall called on the jurors to be swift but thorough in their deliberations, reminding them Justin’s family – dozens of whom were in the audience – have been waiting for justice for 13 years.
“He is filth,” Hall said, again pointing to Horn. “He should be condemned for it. He should rot in hell for it.”
District Judge Amy Burford McCartney took almost 25 minutes to read the required charge for the jury. They left the courtroom at 11:05 a.m. Jurors signaled about 12 minutes later they had reached a decision.
There was no noticeable reaction among the panel when they filed back into the courtroom with the verdict in hand. Likewise, Horn was emotionless as he has been during the trial.
There were smiles and tears among Justin’s family when the “guilty as charged” verdict was read.