HOUSTON – A Galveston County jury has found Don Collins guilty of capital murder in the burning death of Robert Middleton.
Collins was 13 when prosecutors say he set 8-year-old Middleton on fire in Montgomery County. Collins is now 29 and stood trial as an adult on four capital murder charges.
"This man committed capital murder when he poured gas on Robert Middleton and set him on fire," prosecutors said during closing arguments.
Jurors deliberated for more than three and a half hours Monday afternoon after hearing from nearly 40 witnesses in four days before returning the guilty verdict. Collins is facing up to 40 years in prison.
"When you do something like this in Montgomery County, Texas, and we can prove it, there will be consequences for your actions," Montgomery County District Attorney Rob Freyer said.
The jury will return Tuesday to decide the punishment for Collins.
"I hope he gets 40 years. That's the most he can get," said Robert's mother, Colleen Middleton.
Last week, jurors watched Middleton's taped deposition, taken by a personal injury lawyer not long before Middleton died of skin cancer in 2011. In the video, he says Collins sexually assaulted him two weeks before the incident.
Prosecutors said the deposition proves that Collins is guilty.
"It was relative evidence where the complainant, Robert Middleton, identified the perpetrator of this act," said Freyer.
Soon after the attack, Middleton blamed the attack on a boy named Rex, another neighbor. Rex Taylor was called to the stand among other neighbors and friends of Middleton's so prosecutors could try to prove that Rex wasn't the attacker.
"We put on a bunch of witnesses, that provided an alibi for Rex, who was eliminated very early on as a possible suspect in this case," said Freyer.
But defense attorneys claim that there is not enough evidence to prove the case.
Earlier in the trial, Colleen Middleton described to jurors the day her son was set on fire.
She spoke about how excited he had been for his eighth birthday in 1998. That was the day 99 percent of his body was burned.
"It's a long time coming. I'm happy today's here," she said of the trial. "It hasn't sunk in. I know we're all ecstatic but we'll be even more happier when it sinks in. Robert would be extremely happy because he was so afraid that Mr. Collins would harm another child. So he would be extremely happy."
She told the jury that she did not even recognize her own son. She sat just across the courtroom from Collins, the man accused of the attack.
"I try to look at him as I feel sorry for him really, because his life is just messed up," said Colleen Middleton. " It's not hard for me. I feel sorry for him."
Robert Middleton's friend, Gordon Pranger, also testified last week.
"I'm glad to finally be here; I just wish he was here to say his words about it," Pranger said. Pranger also has experience with severe burns; 98 percent of his body was burned in an accident with gasoline. Pranger said he came to court because his friend could not.
"If it were up to me, (it would be) a whole lot more than a death penalty that I could give. Just all that I know Robert went through," said Pranger.
"We anticipate the evidence to show that we're dealing with a 13-year-old individual who burned an 8-year-old boy on his birthday. The evidence Mr. Blackburn (prosecutor) indicated that he was going to see a friend of his on his birthday," said Freyer, an assistant district attorney with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. "It's very emotional. That goes without saying when you have a young boy who went through what Robert Middleton went through. That's the 500-pound elephant in the room. There's no doubt about how horrible this was."
Prosecutors said Collins ambushed Middleton, tied him to a tree, poured gas on him and set him on fire. Prosecutors said Middleton stumbled and crawled out of woods with his skin melting off. Doctors said the only part of his body that was not burned was a small spot on his foot. His family has waited since 1998 for the case to make it to court.
Colleen Middleton said she knew Collins and got nervous when he was around, fearing that he would harm her children. She said he was not allowed nearby.
She said her son was so excited about his 8th birthday and that he started talking about it when he turned 7.
On the day of the attack, Colleen Middleton said the family received a phone call telling her husband to go to the corner because their son had been burned. The boy was found in the road, wearing no clothes and severely burned.
Colleen Middleton said everyone told her not to see her son, and when she did, she barely recognized him. She said he was swollen and his only recognizable feature was a crooked front tooth, which had to be removed.
Colleen Middleton said paramedics told her they were taking the boy to Shiners Hospital, but that he would die.
Robert Middleton lived for many years until he lost his battle with cancer. A reconstructive specialist told jurors last week that the victim would not have died from cancer had he not been burned over 99 percent of his body.
"They've been sitting in the dark for years. Since I've gotten here, I've been wondering why? Why did it take so long?" asked James Richards, Middleton's brother-in-law. "It is tough. They haven't really had a chance. It's been really tough."
Defense attorneys told jurors to wait and to listen to all of the testimony and see the evidence. They claimed that there is not enough to prove the case.
"There is going to be a lot of tragic evidence, probably more than any of us will ever deal with," a prosecutor told the jury.
The first doctor to treat Middleton, Dr. David Herndon, of Shiners Hospital in Galveston, used photos taken during treatment and explained how the burns had hardened Middleton's skin, making it like leather. Herndon said Middleton was all skin and bones, but mostly bones.
In their opening statement, defense attorneys predicted that prosecutors would prey on the emotions of the case. They told jurors to listen to the facts and asked jurors to "base your verdict on the evidence and the lack thereof."