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Jose Raul Quezada, 19, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the May murder of a Columbus man.
Quezada was sentenced last week in a plea deal and was also convicted of assault of public servant and sentenced to 10 years to run concurrently. Quezada was convicted of the shooting death of Mitchell Levard Austin, 37, May 17 in Columbus. He will not be eligible for parole for 22 years.
Quezada was arrested and charged in the death of Austin May 19, 2025 after the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force tracked Quezada III to a hotel in Houston and arrested him without incident.
Quezada was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Austin. Columbus Police responded to a call at the Economy Inn and Suites in the 1100 block of Walnut Street about gunshots being fired on Saturday, May 17 and found Austin had been shot multiple times at 11:30 p.m. He was transported to Columbus Community Hospital where he died shortly after arriving there.
In connection with the killing, Columbus P.D. obtained an arrest warrant for 18-year-old Columbus man Quezada III for the offense of murder. Detectives from the agency contacted investigators with the Colorado County Sherriff’s Office, who relayed the information to the Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force.
Area Reporter Allison Drinnon contributed to this story.
