A Texas man killed his stepdaughter’s ex because he threatened to send her nude photos

A Texas man was sentenced Friday, Nov. 1, to 40 years in prison for killing his stepdaughter’s ex-boyfriend who threatened to show a nude photo of her.

Jessie Clifford Brown, 42, was found guilty of murder in the 2015 death of John Allen Franco. KLTV reported.

Franco, 24, was discovered in his truck in a Liberty City ravine around 10 p.m. on May 20, 2015 with a gunshot wound to his head.

He died on the spot.

A woman in Franco’s car told police that prior to the shooting, a blue truck drove past them and then stopped on the side of the road. Longview News-Journalciting an arrest warrant. Three men got out of the truck and walked towards them. She said Franco drove away and the men followed. At one point, when Franco stopped, one of the men jumped out of the truck and ran to their vehicle.

“When the shot was fired, Franco, who was the driver, had the vehicle in reverse,” Gregg County First Assistant District Attorney Stacey Brownlee tells PEOPLE. “And when he was shot, because he was injured, had a reflex or deliberately put the truck in reverse, he drove into the ravine.”

After the shooting, “there were quite a few names called, potential suspects called and a lot of rumors,” Brownlee said. “The investigator sorted those rumors out, trying to see if anyone matched the descriptions of the original suspects, did cell phone forensics and basically we were left with no leads.”

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However, in 2017, a witness came forward and told authorities that Brown and two other men were involved in the shooting, police said. News-Journalciting an arrest warrant.

One of the men allegedly told police that Brown “wanted to attack Franco because Franco had threatened to show nude photos of (Brown’s) stepdaughter,” the warrant said.

“They tried to get a phone from Franco and the phone had inappropriate pictures of Jessie Brown’s stepdaughter on it,” Brownlee said. “Part of their outing that night was to get the phone from Franco,” who had previously dated Brown’s stepdaughter.

Brownlee says Franco sent a text message to the stepdaughter with a nude photo, which prosecutors say amounted to a threat to distribute such photos of her.

Brown was arrested on October 18, 2018.

“We’re just grateful for citizens who are willing to step up, no matter the cost, because that’s what it takes to solve crime,” Brownlee said.