First ruled as Overdose Boyfriend heads to court on Murder Charges ~ Texas

[Kathy]

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/local/story/410056.html

Beating death trial begins
First of three defendants in woman's 2006 slaying heads to court


BY LESLIE WILBER - LWILBER@VICAD.COM
February 08, 2009 - 10:27 p.m.
A man charged in the bloody beating death of his girlfriend will stand trial this week.

Melba Lott's body had decomposed for several days before it was found in her home at the Crossroads Apartments in March 2006. The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office initially ruled Lott died of a cocaine overdose, but a February 2008 amendment to her autopsy said she was murdered.

Bruce Hughes, 40, one of three people charged with capital murder in her death, will be the first to stand trial.

Jury selection starts at 9 a.m. Monday in Judge Robert Cheshire's courtroom.

Stanford Harvey, 45, and Amanda Jo Walters, 21, were also charged in the killing.

Even after the first autopsy results, police never stopped investigating Lott's death, Police Chief Bruce Ure said in a 2008 interview.

As early as May 2006, Walters told police Lott was murdered during a botched cocaine sale, according to an affidavit. Walters, Harvey and Hughes went to Lott's apartment to sell her crack. Lott tried to smoke some without paying.

Walters said she stood in the parking lot as Harvey and Hughes beat and stabbed Lott, whose body eventually hit the floor, according to the affidavit.

The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty. If Hughes is found guilty he will be sentenced to life in prison.

[Kathy]

Guilty of capital murder: Family expresses relief 'Pebbles' finally gets justice
Bruce Hughes is found guilty in the death of Melba Lott

BY LESLIE WILBER - LWILBER@VICAD.COM
February 17, 2009 - 10:30 p.m.
The first of three defendants to go to trial for a 2006 slaying will spend his life in prison, a jury decided Tuesday.

Bruce Hughes, 40, was convicted of capital murder in the slaying of his girlfriend, Melba Lott.

The jurors deliberated for nearly three hours before announcing their verdict.

"I'm pleased," the victim's brother, Milton Lott, 61, said. "Very pleased with the verdict."

Melba Lott and her four siblings grew up in Victoria, her brother said. The family nicknamed Melba Lott "Pebbles" and called a cousin born the same day "Bam-Bam," he said.

"I just want everyone to know that she was loved by the family," including a now 15-year-old daughter, her brother said.

Melba Lott tried several times to end her cocaine addiction, her brother said. The family also tried to help her, over the years.

"You can say we were practicing tough love," he said.

The 42-year-old woman's battered body was found on March 8, 2006, inside her bedroom, beside a wall splashed with blood. The apartment stank, housekeeper Mary Alice Cano said. Lott died days, or possibly weeks, before Cano and another woman found her, according to a prosecution timeline.

Investigators found a bent knife within arm's reach of her body. The blood-drenched apartment looked like a Hollywood set, Victoria Police Officer Shane Wallace testified.

But an initial autopsy report ruled Lott was not murdered, but died of a cocaine overdose. A 2008 amendment to that autopsy report ruled she was murdered, and the arrests of Hughes and co-defendants Stanford Harvey, 45, and Amanda Jo Walters, 21, soon followed.

The prosecution and defense both focused on discrepancies between the reports during closing arguments Tuesday.

The first examination relied only on evidence from Lott's body, District Attorney Stephen Tyler said.

"There was blood in the stomach," Tyler said. "She could have drowned or asphyxiated."

Evidence including DNA and a trail of blood corroborated Walters' testimony that she, Hughes and Harvey went to Lott's apartment high on cocaine and in search of cash, Tyler said. The three planned to sell Walters' crack to Lott, then rob her, Walters said. Walters stood in the parking lot and heard Lott scream for help as the two men beat her, the co-defendant said.

In a video interview with Victoria Police Detectives Amanda Clemens and Jason Turner, Hughes said he hit Lott about 30 times in the head during a Valentine's Day fight.

Tyler punched the air 30 times, counting out loud with each stroke during the closing arguments. The gesture chilled Lott's brother, who said he couldn't imagine hitting a person so many times without stopping.

It was not possible for Travis County Chief Medical Examiner David Dolinak to determine a precise cause of death during the second autopsy, only homicidal violence.

The differences in the autopsies suggested Hughes didn't murder Lott, defense lawyer Keith Weiser said during his closing arguments. He asked jurors to find Hughes guilty of aggravated assault.

"If they can't agree, how in the world can any of us?" Weiser said of the medical examiners. "I would submit we can't. That's why we use medical examiners."

Bruce Hughes, 40, convicted of capital murder on Tuesday. He will serve a mandatory life sentence without parole because the death penalty was not considered.

Stanford Harvey, 45, is charged with capital murder. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Amanda Jo Walters, 21, is charged with capital murder. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.