Byron McCuin was the last person known to have been at the site of a quadruple homicide on October 9, 2013. One year later to the day, he was convicted and sentenced by a Lamar County jury to 22 years in the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) for the offense of possession with intent to deliver 4-200 grams of cocaine.
Originally, Mr. McCuin pleaded not guilty to the above charge along with charges of possession with intent to deliver 1-4 grams of cocaine and possession with intent to deliver < 28 grams of Alprazolam. After the jury was selected, Mr. McCuin changed his pleas to guilty and requested the jury to assess his punishment. The jury sentenced him to 10 years TDC and 12 months State Jail on the other respective charges.
Mr. McCuin was arrested on August 23, 2013 on a traffic stop and found in possession of over 22 grams of crack cocaine. He was interviewed at that time and denied being involved in any drug distribution in Lamar County and denied possessing the drugs. On October 10, 2013 he was arrested after being found in a car at 5th and Tudor and was again found possessing crack cocaine, as well as marijuana, packaged to be sold. Mr. McCuin was again interviewed and confessed to selling crack cocaine, marijuana and K-2 (synthetic marijuana) in Paris.
This week, McCuin testified in court that he and Billy Carey would travel to Dallas to buy 3-4 ounces of crack cocaine and would pay $600 per ounce. They would then return to Paris to divide it up into $20 rocks and would sell it on the street or at “The Tree.” McCuin told jurors he had left the house at 435 N.E. 6th Street a few minutes prior to the shooting to deliver crack cocaine and returned shortly after to find the victims. Instead of going to the aid of the victims or calling the police, McCuin testified he left to hide from the police because he had outstanding warrants and did not want to be arrested.
McCuin went on to describe in detail he and Carey’s crack distribution business. McCuin explained that the house at 435 N.E. 6th was used as a “trap” house, a place where he and Carey lived and used to divide, weigh and package the crack into $20 rocks. McCuin explained that they did not sell drugs from the house so as not to draw attention to the location or them. He further admitted to selling marijuana and K-2 and that he had traded handguns in the past with other drug dealers.
Detectives Leigh Foreman and Tommy Moore explained to the jury that an ounce of crack cocaine bought by McCuin and Carey would be divided into .2 gram crack rocks that would sell on the street for a total of $2800 netting them a profit over $2000 for each ounce sold. The detectives also explained that “The Tree” was at the corner of 5th N.E. and Grove Street and was a place where narcotics were routinely sold and purchased. Moore testified as an expert in narcotics trafficking and told jurors that McCuin and Carey were significant drug dealers in Lamar County and had been involved in dealing for some time in order to be able to purchase the amounts they did.
McCuin requested the jury place him on probation for these offenses because “he deserved a second chance.” District Attorney Gary Young was pleased with the jury’s sentence and stated that “the jury obviously did not believe Mr. McCuin when he tried to convince them that he was just a small time dealer.” Young further stated that he thought it was important that the jury sent the message to the community that drug dealing and violence in Lamar County will not be tolerated.
McCuin was represented by David Turner at trial. Judge Bill Harris presided over the trial.