A Galveston County jury convicted a 22-year-old man of capital murder for a planned arson attack that killed a 55-year-old woman in February 2024. Prosecutors said the fire was set over a drug debt owed by the victim’s son. The defendant received an automatic life sentence without parole.
According to police, a Galveston County jury found 22-year-old Courtney Allen Thompson Jr. guilty of capital murder in the planned arson attack that murdered 55-year-old Renita Hawthorne.
For the February 2024 fire that trapped four people inside a house on 39th Street, Thompson was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole on Monday. By smashing through a bedroom window, firefighters were able to save three people, including two toddlers. Hawthorne was discovered unconscious and subsequently passed away from thermal burns and carbon monoxide poisoning at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Citing several ignition locations at the home's entrances, investigators from the Galveston Fire Marshal's Office declared the fire to be arson. The prosecution claims that Hawthorne's son had an outstanding drug debt that motivated the attack.
Adam Poole, the chief of the Galveston County District Attorney's Felony Division, informed the jury during the trial that Thompson intentionally started fires to obstruct escape routes. According to the district attorney's office, "he compared Thompson's actions to building a tomb and then setting it on fire."
The jury also saw surveillance footage of a black automobile circling the house and two guys approaching—one with a red gasoline can. Later, when the fire spread, we saw the men fleeing. Prosecutors stated that additional video showed Thompson purchasing gas in a red container a few blocks from the residence, while wearing a blue hoodie matching photos from his social media accounts.
In court, the prosecution showed text messages in which an unidentified number threatened Hawthorne's son and his girlfriend and demanded money. According to the son's testimony, he and his family had received threats regarding the debt from a man known only as Xavier Faison. Faison later claimed responsibility for the fire and expressed hope that the victim had passed away on social media, according to the authorities.
A jail source, who came forward after hearing Thompson "bragging" about the murder, reported that Thompson acknowledged being hired to start the fire because of the outstanding debt.
On Houston's South Post Oak Road, Thompson was taken into custody. His trial started on April 27 and ended this week with a guilty verdict.
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