Deadly assault suspect convicted, sentencing next

One of the first suspects to fall under police custody in the circumstances surrounding the death of Columbus resident Keaton Hancock and subsequently the death of Eagle Lake resident Jonathon Segura was convicted and awaits his sentencing date.

Deagen Mendoza, the first suspect to turn himself in, was prepped to begin his jury trial on Monday, March 18. However, the defense proposed a plea deal to the court that would potentially prevent Mendoza from seeing jail time.

Despite the plea proposal, the county court under the supervision of Justice Jessica R. Crawford convicted Mendoza for deadly conduct with discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The defense attorney John Anderson was unavailable for comment on the current state of the court proceedings.

Mendoza now awaits his sentencing date on May 20.

According to early reports by the Citizen, Mendoza, Dante Larenz Stevens and Dontrae Johnson were arrested and accused of deadly conduct with a firearm. According to witness statements at that time, Mendoza and Johnson used fully automatic weapons while Stevens allegedly used a handgun to shoot multiple rounds at a residence on North Walnut Street in the early morning of Sept. 8.

Johnson received his conviction earlier in the year, taking on a 12-year sentence for a second-degree felony. Stevens will begin his jury trial on July 15. In addition to the deadly assault with a weapon charge, Stevens also has been charged with capital murder Mendoza turned himself in to the authorities on Sept. 13.