SAN ANTONIO – It took just over two hours on Friday for a jury to decide that Earl James Otter should go to prison for 20 years for shooting his girlfriend, Abigail Winters, to death during a struggle at his home on May 18, 2016.
That was a sharp contrast to the nine hours the jury took on Thursday to decide that Otter was guilty of manslaughter and not murder.
"This man is a drug dealer, he is a gun dealer and he is a killer,” prosecutor Josh Somers told the jury during closing arguments in the punishment phase of Otter’s trial.
He said the guilty verdict validates his killer characterization of Otter.
And he reminded the jury of testimony that featured police body camera video of Otter’s arrest on drug and weapons charges as evidence of his drug and gun dealing.
"We cannot trust this man isn’t going to arm himself again and we cannot trust that he’s not going to shoot someone else like he did Abigail again," prosecutor Leslie Rodriguez told the jury during closing arguments.
Noting that Otter was eligible for probation, his lawyer Scott Simpkins, said, "When the state tells you to think about justice for Ms. Winters, you must also remember that Earl James Otter is also a human deserving of your consideration."
The state’s final witness was Winters' mother, Rhonda Bohmann.
"I’m going to miss her terribly," she said. "And while I don’t really agree with the verdict that came down, I appreciate all of you very much."
Bohmann had hoped for a conviction of murder, not manslaughter and a life prison sentence, rather than the maximum of 20 years a manslaughter conviction carries.