                        Background Summary

         On March 16, 2010, Vernon and Sherrie Whitehead, along with their 15-

year-old son Dakota, and his best friend, Reed, were traveling on Interstate 45

through downtown Houston on their way home to Texas City.                 They were

returning from a spring break trip to the Whitehead’s vacation home. Vernon was

driving the family’s pickup truck, which was pulling a trailer loaded with four-

wheelers they had used on vacation. Sherrie was in the passenger seat and Dakota

and Reed were in the backseat.

  Eventually, the family no longer saw appellant.      They

believed that appellant had turned off the freeway.

      When they were close to their home, the Whiteheads noticed that appellant

was still behind them. Vernon decided to pull over to ask appellant why he was

following them. Vernon got out of the truck, followed by Dakota, and approached

appellant, who was sitting in the driver’s seat. Appellant and the two other men in

the vehicle tried to pull bandanas up over the bottom portion of their faces.

Vernon saw that appellant had grabbed a rifle from inside the truck.

      Meanwhile, Sherrie had called 9-1-1. Vernon yelled to her that appellant

had a gun. Vernon and Dakota got back in their pickup.