Galveston County man who escaped to Minnesota, sentenced for roommates murder
GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas - The Texas man charged with the murder of his roommate in League City was sentenced to prison on Friday.
A Galveston County jury sentences 26-year-old Christian Hickman-Staudt to 55 years for the murder of his roommate, League City resident Donald Heard in July 2020. Hickman-Staudt initially left the state but was arrested in Minnesota in October 2021 and extradited to Texas for trial.
Heard's mother discovered her son's body in the bathroom of his home on July 30, 2020. League City police officers report Heard's throat had been cut.
Several electronic devices from the home were seized and a forensic examination of the devices led detectives to Hickman-Staudt who was identified by family, friends, and neighbors as a roommate and romantic partner of Heard.
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A timeline of events was pieced together by League City Detectives Gina Vogel and Ross Haunschild using digital media records.
According to detectives, Heard's last known communication was a Facebook message sent to a friend at 11:51 p.m. on July 23, 2020. At 12:54 a.m. on July 24, 2020, Hickman-Staudt began making multiple calls to his mother, requesting a pick-up and transportation to a bus stop. The same morning, surveillance footage showed Hickman-Staudt at a gas station near Heard's home around 1:15 a.m.
Christian Hickman-Staudt (Courtesy of Galveston County Jail)
Shortly after, his mother picked him up from an undisclosed location and drove him to Austin, Texas, where he boarded a bus headed for Minnesota, investigators say. Hickman-Staudt lived under aliases in Minnesota until his apprehension and identification by Hennepin County law enforcement.
Hickman-Staudt's trial began on Sept. 25, with prosecutors Ricque Davis and Casey Kirst presenting Facebook records, text messages, and surveillance videos as evidence. During Detective Vogel's testimony, jurors listened to a recorded interview in which Hickman-Staudt admitted to being present at the time of the murder and claimed home invaders broke in, robbed, and killed the victim. They also learned that Hickman-Staudt's DNA was found on the handle of a knife discovered at the crime scene.
The jury returned a guilty verdict on Oct. 4 after deliberating.
Prosecutors introduced evidence of Hickman-Staudt's prior criminal history and continued misconduct while in the Galveston County Jail awaiting trial during the punishment phase.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Davis argued to the jury that Hickman-Staudt posed a clear danger to the community and should remain in jail.