Man sentenced to life for shooting ex-girlfriend, dumping body near Bear Creek Park
HOUSTON - A man who shot his girlfriend to death before dumping her body near Bear Creek Pioneers Park in west Houston was recently sentenced to life in prison.
PREVIOUS: Ex-boyfriend of Houston woman found dead charged in her murder
The Harris County District Attorney's Office announced Javon Gilbert, 31, shot his ex-girlfriend, Emmishae Kirby, 28, back in 2020.
Javon Gilbert (Photo courtesy of Harris County Jail Records)
Court records claim he was on deferred adjudication probation at the time for setting his ex-wife's house on fire in 2013 while she was inside.
Gilbert pleaded guilty in 2015 without an agreement, according to the DA's office, and a judge sentenced him to eight years of probation.
Emmishae Kirby, 29, was last seen September 18. (Photo: Texas Equusearch)
After shooting Kirby, Gilbert reportedly dumped her body in a field near Bear Creek Pioneers Park in the 16000 block of Patterson Road.
MORE: Houston woman missing since September found dead, Texas EquuSearch says
A probable court hearing in January 2021, during which Gilbert did not appear due to mental health reasons revealed an autopsy indicating Kirby's manner of death was homicidal violence.
The report from the Harris Co. Institute of Forensic Sciences said the 28-year-old was choked before she was shot in the head.
According to probable court documents, Kirby was killed at her apartment in Harris County on Sept. 18, the last day she was seen.
MORE CRIME-RELATED NEWS COVERAGE
Surveillance video shows that she was with Gilbert when she returned to her apartment. In the early hours of Sept. 19, Gilbert is seen carrying a large, heavy object from the direction of Kirby's apartment, and then placing it in the back of his car.
Court documents say Gilbert disposed of Kirby's body in the Bear Creek Park area, roughly six miles from her apartment.
He then kept returning to the apartment to retrieve items that he threw into the dumpster.
A witness told police that Gilbert and Kirby had been living together until early September 2020 when Kirby complained he had sexually assaulted her. He then moved out.
However, witnesses say he would then go to her apartment through a window uninvited. At least one time he threatened her for hours with a knife.
Gilbert was taken into custody on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
"We know that domestic violence generally escalates, and in too many cases, like this, it escalates to a homicide," Harris Co. DA Kim Ogg said in a press statement. "We sought justice for both of the women that this man victimized, and hopefully a life sentence will give his victims and their families some peace."