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Jury imposes 55-year term; judge sentences Paul Edward Westbrooks Jr. in Jefferson County murder case
Summary
A Jefferson County jury found at least one prior felony conviction true and assessed 55 years' imprisonment for Paul Edward Westbrooks Jr.; the judge imposed a matching 55-year sentence and ordered him remanded to the county jail for transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
A Jefferson County jury on Oct. 12, 2025, found that defendant Paul Edward Westbrooks Jr. had at least one prior felony conviction and assessed his punishment at 55 years' imprisonment with no fine, and the judge sentenced him to that term.
The jury's finding that at least one prior felony conviction was true increased Westbrooks's statutory punishment range for the murder conviction. The prosecution introduced certified judgments and fingerprint comparisons linking Westbrooks to prior convictions; Investigator Troy Robinson of the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office testified that the inked prints from the defendant matched the prints on the prior judgment records. The court then read the jury charge explaining the applicable punishment ranges and parole eligibility rules before counsel gave closing arguments.
The penalty phase mattered because the presence of a prior felony conviction raises the minimum term…
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