Amarillo man sentenced to life in prison for shooting elderly man in the head

Excerpt

An Amarillo man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday in 108th District Court after authorities say he shot an elderly man in the head, according to a news release from 47th District Attorney Rand…

An Amarillo man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday in 108th District Court after authorities say he shot an elderly man in the head, according to a news release from 47th District Attorney Randall Sims.

Samuel Mascorro, 30, was sentenced to life in prison on an aggravated robbery charge for which he was found guilty Wednesday.

The jury took less than 30 minutes to reach a guilty verdict.

The same jury on Thursday heard punishment evidence that included Mascorro’s prior convictions, such as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, deadly conduct-discharging a firearm, criminal mischief and several other misdemeanor offenses.

Mascorro was indicted on the aggravated robbery charge on June 28 by a Potter County Grand Jury.

Prosecutors provided evidence that early on July 19, 2015, Mascorro walked up behind a 76-year-old man outside the Western Horseman Club Bar on Interstate 40, shot him in the head with a .22 caliber pistol and stole his wallet.

The man survived the shooting, walked into the bar bloody from the incident and asked for help.

Witnesses described a blue and silver Dodge pickup with a Texas license plate parked where the shooting occurred. They said the pickup left immediately after the incident.

Police officers went to a home in the 1700 block of South Roosevelt Street at about 10 p.m. the same day and recovered a handgun and the victim’s wallet. The items were left in the home by Mascorro.

Officers then went to a home in the 5400 block of Tradewind Street to locate Mascorro. A vehicle matching the description of the one that left after the shooting was parked outside the Tradewind home.

Mascorro and Marie Gomez, 27, were inside of the home and both were detained and taken to the police department for questioning.