Jurors rejected Romi Frentescu’s self-defense claim after hearing testimony about the fatal 2024 roadside confrontation near Bruceville-Eddy.
WACO, Texas — A McLennan County jury convicted Romi Frentescu of capital murder in the shooting deaths of Michael Morris, 38, and Morris’ 18-year-old son, Braxton Johnson, following a trial centered on a roadside confrontation between men linked to rival motorcycle groups.
Frentescu, 33, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after jurors deliberated for about an hour and returned their verdict Wednesday, Aug. 12. Prosecutors had elected not to seek the death penalty, making life without parole the required sentence after the capital murder conviction. The case stemmed from the Oct. 5, 2024, shootings near Bruceville-Eddy, south of Waco.
The confrontation unfolded at the intersection of Mackey Ranch Road and Old Moody Road after a long-running dispute involving Frentescu and Morris. Frentescu was a former secretary of the Ugly Man Cossacks motorcycle group, while Morris was associated with a rival Cossacks splinter group. Testimony during the trial described hostility between the groups, but the central question for jurors was whether Frentescu intentionally killed the two men or reasonably believed deadly force was needed to protect himself.
Frentescu took the witness stand and maintained that he acted in self-defense. He said Morris had harassed and threatened him before the shooting and that Morris rode past his home that day, revved his motorcycle and made an obscene gesture. Frentescu acknowledged riding to Morris’ home and later stopping at the intersection. He testified that Morris struck him and pulled a switchblade and that Johnson then hit him in the side of the head. Frentescu said he was knocked down and fired because he believed he faced a deadly threat.
Other testimony conflicted with that account. Brian Pugh, a friend of Morris who witnessed the confrontation, told jurors that Morris and Frentescu appeared ready for a fistfight when Johnson ran toward his father. Pugh testified that Frentescu stepped back, drew a handgun and fired several shots at Morris before firing at Johnson. Pugh said he did not see Morris holding a knife. He also testified that Frentescu later pointed the gun toward him as Pugh tried to get away.
Evidence presented earlier in the case also raised questions about Frentescu’s description of the fight. An arrest affidavit said investigators recovered a switchblade with its blade retracted. Officers also reported seeing no visible injuries on Frentescu’s arms, chest, neck or head after his arrest. The affidavit described physical evidence involving a pickup and trailer at the scene that investigators said was inconsistent with parts of Frentescu’s initial account of when the vehicle entered the confrontation.
Jurors also heard testimony about Frentescu returning to the scene after the shooting as people stopped to help the victims. Dorothy Sanders, a Veterans Affairs nurse who came upon what she initially believed was a traffic accident, testified that she began performing CPR on Morris. Sanders said Frentescu later approached and ordered her to stop, threatening to shoot her if she continued. She told jurors she backed away because she feared she would be shot in front of her husband and son.
The prosecution also called Ricardo Ramirez, who had been housed with Frentescu in jail. Ramirez testified that Frentescu told him he had deliberately drawn Morris into a confrontation, comparing his actions to using bait while fishing. Frentescu denied making those statements. Prosecutors argued that Frentescu’s decisions before the encounter showed that he intentionally created the confrontation, while defense attorneys maintained throughout the trial that Morris was the aggressor and that Frentescu had tried to retreat before firing.
Frentescu’s wife, Alyssa Marleen Sevilla, had been arrested after the 2024 shootings on allegations including being a party to capital murder and tampering with evidence. During Frentescu’s trial, reporting from the courtroom indicated she had not been indicted on those allegations. When called as a potential defense witness, Sevilla invoked her Fifth Amendment right and did not testify.
The jury’s conviction resolved the central criminal case against Frentescu nearly two years after Morris and Johnson were killed. The verdict meant jurors did not accept his claim that the shootings were justified as self-defense. With the death penalty removed as a sentencing option before trial, Frentescu received life in prison without parole following the capital murder conviction.
Author note: Last updated August 16, 2026.