Press release
A Henderson County jury recently convicted 34-year-old Randall Gene Looney, II of three different felony offenses in Judge Mark Calhoon’s 3rd Judicial District Court. Looney was indicted for Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Kidnapping, and Burglary of a Habitation. The jury required less than 30 minutes to deliberate before finding Looney guilty on all three charges.
Over the course of the trial spanning two weeks, the jury heard evidence from Assistant District Attorneys Jenny Palmer and Daniel Cox that on January 8, 2016, Looney was searching for his ex-girlfriend, who had recently left him. After learning that she was staying in a home in the Eustace area, Looney had an acquaintance take him to that location where he kicked in the front door and entered the residence.
Immediately after entering the house, Looney stabbed an adult male, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, three times in the back with a knife, which was witnessed by several other people in the room.
After the stabbing, Looney grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the hair, cutting her on the forehead in the process, and held a knife to her throat while threatening to kill her. He then dragged her from the home, down the driveway, and into a waiting truck. Approximately one hour later, Gun Barrel City police officers were able to locate the defendant and his victim. Looney was arrested without further incident.
Henderson County Sheriff’s Investigator Jeromey Rose testified that the evidence observed at the crime scene, including blood trails and a badly damaged door, corroborated the eyewitness accounts given by the people in the home at the time of the burglary, stabbing and kidnapping.
Despite serious blood loss, that man stabbed by Looney survived his injuries and was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at ETMC Athens where he was treated for his wounds. The female was also treated and released at Gun Barrel City ETMC where she received stitches for the cut to her forehead.
Once the jury found Looney guilty, the trial entered the punishment phase where prosecutors called another ex-girlfriend of Looney’s who took the stand to testify that the defendant had choked and sexually assaulted her on a previous occasion. Her description of the events was eerily similar to the facts in this case, in that she testified the defendant had kicked in a door to a residence where she had been staying in an attempt to locate and forcefully remove her.
In her argument to the jury, Assistant District Attorney Palmer highlighted the violence and other similarities between the two cases, while pointing out the defendant’s lengthy criminal history and the severity of his crimes.
In response to a request by prosecutors for an appropriately lengthy sentence, the jury again came back with a quick verdict sentencing Looney to 75 years on all three cases which will run concurrently. Looney will not be eligible for parole until a minimum of 30 calendar years have been served.
Henderson County District Attorney Mark Hall indicated his satisfaction with the jury’s verdicts and sentence. “This was a team effort to secure these convictions and sentences, from the patrol officers and deputies who first responded to the crime scene, to the investigators who followed up on the case, along with our Assistant District Attorneys who prosecuted the case. Working together, we were able to remove a violent and habitual criminal from our community for a very, very long time.”