Gerald Marshall was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the murder of Christopher Dean
According to court documents Gerald Marshall and three associates would plan and rob a Whataburger restaurant. During the armed robbery Christopher Dean would be shot and killed
Gerald Marshall would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Gerald Marshall Photos
Gerald Marshall Now
| Name | Marshall, Gerald Edward | |
| TDCJ Number | 999489 | |
| Date of Birth | 07/11/1982 | |
| Date Received | 12/08/2004 | |
| Age (when Received) | 22 | |
| Education Level (Highest Grade Completed) | 12 | |
| Date of Offense | 05/11/2003 | |
| Age (at the time of Offense) | 20 | |
| County | Harris | |
| Race | Black | |
| Gender | Male | |
| Hair Color | Black | |
| Height (in Feet and Inches) | 6′ 1″ | |
| Weight (in Pounds) | 212 | |
| Eye Color | Brown | |
| Native County | Bell | |
| Native State | Texas |
Gerald Marshall Case
A 22-year-old man was sentenced to death Friday for the fatal shooting of a mentally disabled cashier during the robbery of a Whataburger restaurant last year
Gerald Marshall was convicted Wednesday of capital murder in the slaying of 38-year-old Christopher Martin Dean on May 18, 2003.
Dean was killed while working the graveyard shift at the Whataburger in the 1700 block of West Loop 610 North.
Police and prosecutors said the robbery was an inside job, planned with the restaurant’s then-manager Gregory O’Neil Love, 39. Love and two other men, Ronald Worthy, 26, and Kenny Earl Calliham, 23, have been charged with capital murder in Dean’s death
Dean, who authorities said was borderline mentally retard-ed, had worked at the restaurant for 13 years. He was at the drive-through window about 4 a.m. when a pistol-wielding Marshall climbed through the window and demanded keys to the safe, prosecutors said.
Marshall expected to find Love, who had agreed to ensure that $7,000 would be in the safe, prosecutors Colleen Barnett and Vic Wisner said.
But Love had left hours earlier. When Dean was unable to provide the keys to the safe, Marshall shot him once in the head, the prosecutors said.
“Why does he need a real gun — loaded chamber, off safety — if this is an inside job?” Wisner asked jurors at the close of trial Thursday.
Jurors in State District Judge Debbie Mantooth Stricklin’s court deliberated for more than seven hours over two days before agreeing on the death sentence. The trial lasted nine days.
Marshall’s mother, 48-year-old Johni Marshall, testified in court this week wearing a jailhouse jumpsuit.
Currently serving a two-year sentence for drug possession, she testified that she has been addicted to crack cocaine for years and was unable to care for her son
Marshall grew up in a series of foster homes and at times suffered physical abuse, but prosecutors said that was insufficient reason to spare his life.
“He was given a bad set of parents,” Wisner said. “I guess he’s got a lifetime ‘I-can-commit-capital-murder-and-not-get-the-death-penalty’ card. That is what they’d have you believe. “
Marshall’s attorneys criticized prosecutors for relying on witnesses who are criminals and stand to benefit from testifying against their client.
Calliham, for one, was offered a plea bargain that could drastically reduce any sentence he receives in exchange for testifying at Marshall’s trial.
“Their star witness was in on it, too, and he skated,” defense attorney Sidney Crowley told jurors Thursday, referring to Calliham.
Jurors also heard testimony from Clarence Green, a Harris County jail inmate who said Marshall confessed to the crime while they were cellmates last year.
Defense attorney Mack Arnold said Green was not credible and testified only to help himself.
