A 61-year-old man from Houston will spend life in prison without parole for brutally killing a 28-year-old woman in 2020, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
On Monday, David Spates was convicted of murder in the stabbing and beating death of a young mother, Kayla Lary.
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Authorities said Spates and Lary knew each other and were part of a group of people who used drugs together. After a man from the group was arrested earlier in 2020, Spates accused Lary of talking with police.
Lary was killed on June 24, 2020. Authorities said she was at a home in a rural area near Sheldon Lake with Spates when her wrists and ankles were bound. Spates then hit her with a hammer and stabbed her. According to authorities, a trash bag was used to cover her head.
A witness told police that as Lary was beaten, she yelled out that she wanted to go home to be with her baby. After she was dead, Lary's car was driven to the woods, where it was abandoned, and her body was dumped in the San Jacinto River. Her decomposed remains were found 10 days later, but this made it difficult to determine exactly how she died.
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In a release from the DA's office, Spates' trial lasted seven days, only for a jury to deliberate for 19 minutes and convict him.
"No one deserves to die like that, and he threw her away like she was a piece of trash," Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Rogers said. "We are thankful to the jurors who listened to the facts of this horrible case and did the right thing."