Joshua Gilbreath’s sentencing hearing held after guilty verdict

FLORENCE, Texas – Joshua Gilbreath’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday featured emotional testimony from Diana Pier’s family. Gilbreath was found guilty of murder on Tuesday, September 17.

The jury was shown a series of photos of Pier with his grandchildren and celebrating special events. Among those who testified was Pier’s daughter, Becca.

She said she had to “accept that it was not a nightmare”. Despite the guilty verdict on Tuesday night, she “will never be compensated”.

Diana Pier was found shot to death along a country road near Florence in August 2022. Investigators believe she had stopped to help Gilbreath who had pulled into a driveway. At the time of the shooting, he had lost his job, was drinking heavily and was using cocaine.

During the trial, a psychiatrist testified that Gilbreath told him he shot Pier as she approached him because he thought she was reaching for a gun. Prosecutors say Pier did not have a gun.

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The lack of a clear motive, “the unknown” as Pier’s eldest daughter Marsha describes it, has shaken the family to its core.

Diana Pier was remembered as a dedicated and devoted volunteer to her community. Even though you were a stranger to her, you were still a friend, a family friend who testified told the jury.

In response to a question from Gilbreath’s attorney, a close family friend, Becky Cook, said Pier “believed in love and forgiveness and she wanted us to forgive.” But she added that she “also wanted the community to be protected.”

Gilbreath’s father, Byron, told the jury Wednesday afternoon that he and his wife acknowledged that Diana Pier experienced what she believed. Apologizing for what happened is not enough, Byron Gilbreath acknowledged.

The jury was shown photos of Joshua when he graduated from Stony Point High School, college and early in his business career.

Byron Gilbreath testified that his son is not the person he once knew. He still believes Joshua suffers from mental illness. He hopes treatment will continue in prison because he believes that at some point his son will be able to be released and no longer pose a danger to the community.

The sentencing hearing ended Wednesday afternoon. This was not a capital murder trial, so the death penalty is not at stake.

The jury has several options to consider. The sentence can range from five years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.