In June, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted Coby Ray Hudgins, 33, a new punishment hearing.
LONGVIEW, Texas — The resentencing hearing for a Kilgore man convicted of murdering a Hallsville teen has been set for April 2025.
In 2015, Coby Ray Hudgins, 33, was sentenced to 99 years for the 2013 murder of Kayla Williams, 17. However in June, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted him a new punishment hearing.
According to online judicial records, the trial date for the sentencing is April 14 in the 124th District Court.
According to a ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, expert testimony found Hudgins’ “traumatic history as a sexual assault victim combined with the physical and mental effects of that trauma” could have reduced the length of his sentence. The court determined that Hudgins’ defense should have presented expert testimony on Hudgins’ mental health.
The appellate court found ineffective assistance of counsel based on the trial record and determined the trial court abused its discretion by deciding that a more lenient sentencing was unlikely.
In his court filing, an assessment found seeing family violence at a young age and years of forceful sexual assaults over multiple years caused him to have PTSD.
Hudgins has been in the Gregg County Jail since Aug. 5 while he waits for trial on a $250,000 bond.
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