Houston man sentenced for killing girlfriend in 2016, dumping her body in a field
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A Houston man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2016 murder of his girlfriend, Amalia Alexander, after she filed domestic violence charges against him.
On Wednesday, 40-year-old Jarvis Early Hickerson was sentenced after being found guilty of capital murder for the death of Amalia Alexander on Sept. 19, 2016.
"Eight years is too long for anyone to have to wait for justice, but our Domestic Violence Division was able to get life without parole, which was the appropriate sentence," Ogg said. "This case is horrible and shows exactly why we take every allegation of domestic violence so seriously — too often it escalates to homicide."
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Hickerson murdered Alexander days after she filed an assault charge and protective order against him following an altercation at a north Houston IHOP, where Hickerson hit her.
During the trial, jurors heard evidence Hickerson had tried to manipulate Alexander into dropping the charges, even proposing to her in an attempt to prevent her from testifying. When those efforts failed, Hickerson murdered Alexander in her apartment and disposed of her remains in a field in Montgomery County.
Her family filed a report with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office after Alexander went missing. Surveillance video showed Hickerson leaving her apartment at 5 a.m. the day she disappeared and she was supposed to be at work at 6 a.m.
Investigators traced Alexander's cellphone to the field where her body was later discovered in a shallow grave, two months after she went missing. After pulling Hickerson's cell phone records, authorities learned he was in the same field where her remains were found two days in a row after she disappeared.
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Hickerson was arrested and charged with capital murder but was later released on bond. While free, Hickerson tampered with his GPS ankle monitor and assaulted a different girlfriend by choking her, leading to his rearrest.
Assistant District Attorneys Steve Walsh and Mary McFaden prosecuted the case.
Hickerson was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole. He will never be eligible for parole and will never be released from prison.