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Man convicted of capital murder; will spend life in prison
Anthony Crater, 35, was convicted last week of capital murder in a case involving aggravated robbery at a Stafford hotel. He was sentenced to life without parole in prison. Courtesy Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office
Staff Reports A Fort Bend County jury on July 2 convicted a Michigan man of capital murder for his role in a 2002 aggravated robbery in Stafford in which the victim was killed, according to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. Because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, Anthony Crater, 35, was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole in the 240th District Court before Presiding Judge Surendran Pattel, according to a news release. Crater was the second defendant convicted in the case. In May, Jessie Cook pleaded guilty to a charge of murder and received a 50-year sentence. According to lead prosecutor Milo Fragoso, Crater and Cook went to a Stafford hotel in the morning of April 30, 2022, where two other codefendants had allegedly lured two unsuspecting victims to be robbed. During the robbery, Crater shot and killed one of the men when he tried to escape. T he Staf ford Police Department’s investigation, led by Sgt. Kristi Melendez, identified four people responsible for the crime and the different roles each played to commit the offense. “Mr. Crater made a conscious decision that night that his victim would not escape him. In the end, the defendant senselessly took the life of a young man over a few material possessions,” Fragoso said. “His actions and blatant disregard for human life not only merited the capital murder charge, but the ultimate consequence of a life sentence without parole that comes with that conviction.” “I am so proud of my prosecutors and the police, who dedicated so much time to get justice for the victim’s family. I cannot imagine their pain, and pray the result helps close this difficult chapter in their lives,” District Attorney Brian Middleton said in the release. Crater was tried by Assistant District Attorneys Milo Fragoso, Gavin O’Brien and Chief Felony Prosecutor Lisa Gregg. Charges against defendants Kaylin Johnson and Syandra Patterson are still pending.
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 50 • No. 28 • $1.00 Visit www.FortBendStar.com
Trial begins in 1st Amendment lawsuit against sheriff’s office By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Testimony began Tuesday, after the Fort Bend Star’s print deadline, in a federal civil lawsuit in which a self-styled citizen journalist claims that Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan and his deputies infringed his First Amendment rights as he gathered news for his social media accounts. Last September, a federal magistrate ruled that the sheriff violated the plaintiff’s rights. Based on that ruling, the trial is expected to focus on the amount of damages Fort Bend County owes Pulliam. Justin Pulliam, a Fort Bend County resident, has for sev-
eral years been posting videos of encounters between county law enforcement officers and citizens and posting them on his Facebook account and a YouTube channel called “Corruption Report.” The videos often depict Pulliam being confrontational with officers. In the lawsuit, originally filed in a Houston federal court in December 2022, Pulliam claims that Fagan infringed on his First Amendment rights when he ordered deputies to remove him from the site of a July 2021 press conference at Jones Creek Ranch, which had been closed during the investigation of a body that was discovered there. News media reporters on the scene were asked to gather at
the park’s entrance, but when Pulliam arrived, Fagan is heard on a video shot by Pulliam telling deputies that he was not part of the media and told them to escort him back to his car, about 80 feet away. Separately, the lawsuit alleges that Sgt. Taylor Rollins violated Pulliam’s rights in December 2021 when he arrested him for refusing to step away from the scene of a welfare check of a man known by the department to have mental illness and who owned firearms. Pulliam and his attorneys assert that Pulliam was within his rights because the man’s mother had granted
SEE TRIAL PAGE 4
The trial of a civil rights violations lawsuit filed by a self-styled citizen journalist against the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is being held this week at the federal courthouse in downtown Houston. Photo by Ken Fountain
BRICK RODEO IN SUGAR LAND
Hundreds of people from the greater Houston area, across the nation and even some other countries filled the exhibition spaces of the Sugar Land Marriott over the weekend for Brick Rodeo, a convention by and for fans of Legos, the worldwide toy brick phenomenon. The event featured contests for designs, robotics engineering contests, interactive workshops and more.
See more photos on Page 5. Devon Shows of Pearland makes some adjustments to his “Super Coaster” design in the Brick Rodeo competition at the Brick Rodeo, a Lego fan exhibition held at the Sugar Land Marriott. Photo by Ken Fountain
Robbery suspect shot, killed by Stafford police Staff Reports A man suspected in a convenience store robbery was shot and killed by Stafford police on Sunday afternoon, according to the police department. In a press release, police say that approximately 3:15 p.m. Sunday, officers were dispatched to the 300 block of Avenue F in reference to a 911 report of a man wielding a large knife. A second 911 caller told dispatchers that the man was walking along Avenue E and had crossed FM 1092. A short time later, a third call was received from a 7-Eleven convenience store in the 2900 block of North Main Street reporting that a man fitting the same description had committed an armed robbery. Stafford officers located the suspect near the intersection of Avenue E and Shady Brook
Drive. Upon contact, the suspect fled on foot, and officers chased him on foot, according to the release. During the foot chase the suspect armed with a large kitchen knife and a brick began charging at officers, according to the release. Officers deployed a Taser, which proved ineffective. A second officer discharged their firearm, striking the suspect, according to the release. Officers immediately began using life-saving measures, according to the release, but the suspect was later pronounced deceased at the scene. He has been identified as Miftau Oladipo, 35. The Stafford Police Department is actively investigating this incident in conjunction with the Texas Rangers, the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, and the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, according to the release.
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