Texas – In a tragic case in Texas that highlights the devastating impact of domestic violence, a 48-year-old man, identified as Dakari L., was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the murder of his 45-year-old wife, identified as Rhonda L. The sentencing comes nearly three-and-a-half years after the chilling incident in which he fatally shot her while she was recording the confrontation on her phone.
Dakari committed the heinous act of violence against his Rhonda, who was an engineer working from home, on May 19, 2021, in their home. The couple’s two teenage children, who were being homeschooled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were present at the time of the incident. The prosecutors stated that Dakari had terrorized his wife for years before the fatal incident.
The sequence of events leading to Rhonda’s murder began unsettlingly when Dakari instructed his children to go to the family’s truck. Suspicious and worried, one of the teens texted their mother, expressing fear for her safety after seeing their father armed with an assault rifle. Rhonda, warned about the danger, started audio recording on her phone—a decision that would later provide crucial evidence—as Dakari entered the room where she was working.
As the situation escalated, Dakari confronted Rhonda with the rifle in the room where she was working.”He told her that if she wanted to pray, she needed to do it then and that both of them would be dead that day,” as detailed in the press release by the District Attorney K. Ogg. Moments later, he shot her multiple times.
The children, witnessing the aftermath, called 911. Responding deputies found Dakari in his open garage and discovered Rhonda deceased on the living room floor. Dakari initially claimed self-defense, alleging that Rhonda had attacked him with a knife. However, the audio recording Rhonda made contradicted his claims, capturing her final moments and efforts to de-escalate the situation. Her last words were the names of her children.
Dakari pleaded guilty as his trial was about to commence. He was subsequently sentenced to 65 years in prison, with eligibility for parole after 30 years. Assistant District Attorney K. Marshall, who prosecuted the case, emphasized the prolonged terror Rhonda endured and her bravery in the face of imminent danger. “Rhonda bravely audio-recorded Lenear as he was holding an assault rifle and telling her that she would be dead by the end of the day,” Marshall stated. The recording was pivotal in disproving Dakari’s self-defense claim and demonstrated the premeditated nature of his actions.
Her mother, D. Tatum, expressed a poignant mix of grief and forgiveness, focusing on healing and faith. “I’m not angry,” she told news outlets. “I pray, just like when me and the kids prayed last night. I pray, ‘God, don’t let them have any bitterness, help them to turn everything around, turn everything that is going on for God to be lifted up.'”
Rhonda was remembered as a loving and vibrant person, dedicated to her family and career. Her murder not only robbed her children of their mother but also left the community and her extended family grappling with the senselessness of the violence. This case is a tragic reminder of the lethal consequences of domestic violence and the importance of recognizing and addressing signs of abuse before they escalate to irreversible outcomes.
