Nickleberry sentenced for murder

On Thursday, September 1, 2022, a Cass County jury convicted Vontrequel Nickleberry, 33, of Marietta, Texas, of the murder of DaChauncey Jones, also of Marietta, Texas.

After conviction, additional evidence was presented, and the jury assessed a sentence of 50 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Institutional Division, along with a $10,000 fine.

The case was tried by Cass County Criminal District Attorney, Courtney Shelton, and First Assistant District Attorney, Nick Ross. Vontrequel Nickleberry was represented by Dallas attorney Curtis Lilly.

During the four-day trial, the jury heard from family members, deputies from the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office, forensic scientists, and multiple eyewitnesses to the murder.

The evidence showed that on September 22, 2021, Nickleber- ry was at the Marietta community center practicing softball. During warm-ups, Jones drove up to the community center extremely upset about the loss of his grandmother who had passed away the previous day. Jones cried to the coach for a brief period of time and then walked towards Nickleberry where an argument ensued. After a brief altercation that was broken up by other members of the softball team, Nickleberry pulled a 9 mm handgun out of his pants. When he pointed the gun at Jones, Jones raised both hands in the air and began backing away. Nickleberry fired two fatal shots into Jones’ torso, and Jones fell to the ground. While Jones was lying on the ground, Nickleberry walked up, stood over Jones, and fired a shot at his face, which grazed Jones’ cheek. Nickleberry then fled the scene.

Investigator Sabrina Sartor testified that the next day Nickleberry showed up at the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office to turn himself in and give a statement. In that statement, Nickleberry claimed he was in fear for his life and was acting in self-defense. He then took law enforcement to the woods, where he had disposed of the murder weapon and an extra magazine.

Nickleberry took the stand in his defense and stated he “would do it again.” He continued to state that he was in fear for his life, even though he never saw a gun in Jones’ hand. He cited two past incidents, over a year prior to the murder, where Jones allegedly fired a gun in his direction. The State presented witnesses contradicting Nickleberry’s claims, along with evidence that neither incident resulted in criminal charges.

The jury rejected Nickleberry’s claim of self-defense, finding either that the defendant did not believe his use of force was immediately necessary to protect himself against Jones, or that his belief was unreasonable.

At the punishment phase, the State presented evidence of other crimes and extraneous bad acts that Nickleberry had committed in Dallas County, Tarrant County, Gregg County, Panola County and Morris County.

“As always, we are extremely grateful to the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory for their assistance in this investigation. We would also like to thank the eyewitnesses who came forward and were willing to testify about what they observed on September 22, 2021. Without their testimony, this conviction would not have been possible.” said Cass County Criminal District Attorney Courtney Shelton. “DaChauncey Jones’ family has been trying to heal for nearly a year, and I believe the justice Nickleberry received will be a large step in that healing process. While this sentence will not bring Jones back, it does affirm to Cass County citizens that these types of senseless murders are not acceptable and will be prosecuted.”