Judge Raquel West SHUTS DOWN Aggressor — "You Shot Her 3 Times!"

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Yes, ma'am.

[00:00:00]>> And Mr. Paredes is on probation in cause numbers 1624053.

[00:00:07]That one for prohibited weapon possession.

[00:00:10]20-35328 for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and 20-35329 also aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

[00:00:22]Was in court previously.

[00:00:25]Entered pleas of true to counts 1, 2, 3, and 6. I've received an updated pre-sentence report. Have you both had an opportunity to review that report?

[00:00:34]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:00:36]Any additions or corrections?

[00:00:37]>> Uh, nothing to add.

[00:00:39]Any testimony with regard to any of the other allegations, Mr. Smith? Uh, Judge, we have a witness here for I'm sorry, I can't hear you. We had the police officer here if you'd like to hear from him. I believe he Yes, I did address I mean, I I have what he put in here, but I just I'm asking if there's any witness if you want to put in it on any testimony for the counts that were not pled true to or not.

[00:01:09]Uh Subjective.

[00:01:13]I I would ask him a few questions if the state's not going to call him.

[00:01:18]I'll get him to do it.

[00:01:27]All right. Uh, Mr. Patton, if you'll please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you're going to give in this hearing will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you, sir. Go ahead.

[00:01:37]Uh, Mr. Paredes was ordered to perform community service and has he completed all of that and provided verification to the probation department? He has not, no.

[00:01:48]And did he appear for alcohol or drug screening on June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd, July 5th, July 21st, 2025.

[00:02:03]What are the dates again?

[00:02:04]June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd, July 5th, July 21st, 2025.

[00:02:12]So, June the 18th, uh he did not show. June the 25th, he did not show. This is where probation cases start collapsing fast. Missing one drug screening might get you a warning.

[00:02:22]Missing multiple dates in a row while ignoring community service. Judges see that as a pattern, not a mistake. And notice how the courtroom energy shifts here. The defense is trying to focus on partial compliance, but the probation officer keeps stacking missed obligations one after another. Do you think the court already made up its mind at this point? He did not show.

[00:02:42]And in July 21st, he did not show.

[00:02:47]Uh I guess I want to know with regard to community service.

[00:02:51]Obviously he has What has he done out of any of it if any? Uh you're all in cause number 16-24053.

[00:03:00]He has completed 169 hours out of the originally assessed 300. Okay. Which leaves him with 131.

[00:03:08]Uh he will last perform community community service on April 4th of this year.

[00:03:13]He worked with our work crew at my mobile home office. Um He has not performed any of the community service in in either of the other two cause numbers. Okay. Thank you.

[00:03:25]Mr. Kimmel. Shouldn't the community service be concurrent in all three of the cases? In other words, the community service that he's done in one case should transfer And then we gave him probation on two after that.

[00:03:35]>> it is typically how we do that. You're right. Do do we typically will give them credit for work community supervision on any of cases they're dealing with regardless of when they started supervision.

[00:03:46]Community service. Yes. Sorry.

[00:03:49]Absolutely, John. Yep.

[00:03:51]Uh how long have supervised him, sir?

[00:03:53]Um so, I mean I'm a supervisor at our department.

[00:03:57]Um I have seen Mr. Paredes on numerous occasions for um for administrative hearings, case staffings, uh and when I've held down a caseload when we've been in between officers. But she has something to your knowledge with him?

[00:04:08]>> I do, yes, sir. And during the times that she's uh supervising directly, has he maintained proper demeanor with you?

[00:04:15]Yes, sir. Proper uh decorum, all those things? That is correct, yes, sir. And should he be continuing on probation, you would not be the supervising officer, that would be someone else to your knowledge? That is correct, I would not be supervising him.

[00:04:27]Well, let's say I I suppose you acted in uh as a supervising officer at some point in your career with the probation department, is that right? That is correct, yes, sir.

[00:04:36]Assuming let's just speak hypothetically, if you were a supervising officer again, would there be anything about Mr. Paredes' demeanor, his demeanor, his decorum, his attitude towards the probation department or personnel? Hypothetically, no, not not in during those items. Hypothetically, no, not not in during those items.

[00:04:53]Uh who was his supervising officer? Uh his supervising officer was uh Alexander Arellano.

[00:05:01]Um Mr. Arellano went out on maternity leave and elected to stay home with her child, and so we've since filled that vacancy with a new officer.

[00:05:10]But she was the one that was I guess directly supervising? That is correct, yes, sir. Do you have access to her records, is that right? I do, yes, sir.

[00:05:16]Uh is there anything any indications in there about some type of mental health before? Mhm, of that nature? No, sir, there's not. Not that I've come across.

[00:05:23]And nothing in the records that indicates that there's ever been any type of mental health assessment or mental health uh recommendation for Mr. Paredes, particularly not for schizophrenia or anything like that, no threats, depression, or Not that I've come across, no, sir.

[00:05:40]That's all, Mr. No further questions. All right.

[00:05:46]So, Mr. Paredes, it shows here in this updated pre-sentence report that one of the things you told Mr. Patton was that you'd been on probation since you were 18 and you just couldn't do it anymore.

[00:06:00]Yes. Yes, ma'am. That's true. And then you said, "I'll take it safe P." Why?

[00:06:05]Well, at the time when I told him that I couldn't take probation anymore, that was one of the times where I was just feeling real down and depressed, you know, from everything that's going on in the past, you know, with me being shot and stuff like that. I was shot in my neck and my arm. So, since then I've been having real bad PTSD, real bad depression, bipolar disorder. So, you know, there's some days where I'm good, some days I'm not, you know, some days I wake up on the wrong side of the bed from having nightmares, you know, and some days I'm just as happy as I can be. So, from that point on, um uh at this point, I know since being in jail now, this isn't what I want because it's just hurting my family, hurting my daughter. And being around the people that's around me, you know, being around murderers and uh rapists and, you know, aggravated robbers and all that, it's just a bad environment for me and it puts me in a bad mood.

[00:07:05]Uh puts me, you know, in a bad uh mindset, I guess you can say.

[00:07:12]Um and I did speak with the counselor I had that they assigned me for probation and I did tell them tell them those things and they did recommend recommend recommend that MHMR, but I never went just because I felt like it was um I felt kind of low, you know, >> [snorts] >> thinking I would go to MHMR, you know, cuz stigmatized.

[00:07:35]>> Yes, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

[00:07:37]So, um at this point, I don't want to go to jail or prison.

[00:07:44]Feel like being in here, sitting here has helped me realize that my life is on the line and it isn't a game and it isn't a joke.

[00:07:53]And um but I do need help mentally.

[00:07:57]I was prescribed Zoloft the last time I was in here due to my PTSD but I never took it.

[00:08:04]Cuz I heard really bad things about it.

[00:08:06]But now I'm starting to realize maybe I should be on Zoloft just to uh control the urges, you know, smoking weed and you know, that kind of behavior. Let me ask you a few questions, Ronald. Sure.

[00:08:21]I Like best you can, raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're going to give in this hearing will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

[00:08:27]>> Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Explain those facial tattoos to the judge. Uh this tattoo right here is my daughter's birthday, 11 14 2017. And this is 9 16 22 is the day my cousin killed himself.

[00:08:40]Uh he shot himself in the head.

[00:08:43]Um this was right after my uncle had passed of cancer.

[00:08:47]And uh my cousin who just passed away, his dad, my other uncle had just passed due to cancer as well. That's why I turned myself in a week later after my warrant had came out.

[00:09:00]This tattoo on here is a heart and a music note.

[00:09:04]I got that from my ex-girlfriend, you know, just you know.

[00:09:09]Being dumb at the time. Uh No gang affiliations? No gang affiliation tattoos on me. It's a >> And you just turned yourself in on a warrant? Yes, sir. I did turn myself in.

[00:09:18]All right, how are you How are you maintaining employment when you're found? Oh, I always get I always held a job. Always held a job. Even if it's working at Whataburger. I was working at Whataburger.

[00:09:28]Shipley's Donuts was my last job to maintain because I got laid off. I was working at I was a carpenter for Baker It's about a year and a half.

[00:09:36]>> At the LNG plant, >> Yes, sir. terminal. Sir.

[00:09:39]What was we What were you out there?

[00:09:40]Carpenter? Yes, sir. Scaffold builder, what were you doing? Uh we were doing woodwork, building decks and carports.

[00:09:47]And lunch shifts in the engine.

[00:09:52]And as far as being shot, that actually I know the court been looking at his criminal history. These are serious cases as far as the aggravated assault, serious bodily injury. You were actually shot during that interchange. Is that right? By the other people?

[00:10:05]>> Yes, sir. And you had returned fire.

[00:10:07]Yes, sir.

[00:10:08]That's not what >> I I understand you are, but it's not I I don't want the court to think I'm just looking at it and I'm not trying to >> My understanding from the the version in the pre-sentence report previously and >> I've been representing No recollection of it actually because I It's not good when I remember you.

[00:10:30]Um the fact that you were already on probation for a felony and then you came in and you admitted that you went there to shoot You went there to go shoot Christie.

[00:10:42]But which is your child's mother.

[00:10:46]Right?

[00:10:48]That's not true?

[00:10:49]No. So did you mean to go Watch how quickly the self-defense angle starts falling apart. The judge isn't just listening to what happened during the shooting. She's focusing on why he went there in the first place. In court, intent matters a lot. And once prosecutors frame someone as the aggressor, every later explanation sounds more like damage control than truth. You can almost feel the tension rising because this exchange may have completely changed the outcome of sentencing.

[00:11:14]>> shoot the two girls that got shot, Alexis and Taylor?

[00:11:18]No, ma'am.

[00:11:19]Who'd you mean to shoot? I didn't go there to shoot anybody. I think he's What he explained it to me, he was going there to meet for sexual purposes the two girls and when he got there, they were they were he was set up in the parking lot and then by other people there but people who were going to robbing and in the course of [clears throat] that there was a gun fight. But he wasn't going there to shoot anybody.

[00:11:44]All right. Well, that's a good >> going there for the illegal park flying city That goes against everything that was said and everything that he agreed to back then because That's correct. And we were getting ready for trial on this case. He was the aggressor. He was the one that fired first and had he been a better shot, Alexis and or Taylor might have been killed but he was there to go kill Christie.

[00:12:05]I I would I didn't represent anybody else so I don't know.

[00:12:08]>> All right. Anything else?

[00:12:13]All right, Mr. Smith argument. Uh I would agree with the probation but I believe he's only asking for safe P now simply because it's the only alternative he sees to prison. I don't think he's sincere about it.

[00:12:27]We have given him chance after chance after chance and he has squandered, wasted and even though he's a nice guy when he shows up, he does what he wants to do. That's evidenced by the jail reports that shows that they tell him to go back to his bunk and he just gets in the shower with his jumper on and then when they write him up about it then he says, "Man, [ __ ] you."

[00:12:52]He has zero respect for authority or doing what's right, what he's supposed to do. Uh I think prison time is appropriate in this case. The PTSD excuse is weak. He was the aggressor in the initial contact and you can't claim that well, I feel bad because I got shot by somebody who was defending two other women.

[00:13:15]So, I would ask for prison time in this case.

[00:13:18]Anything else, Mr. Kimler? Well, it's difficult for me to address the all these all these with these jail incident reports without having the opportunity to cross-examine the person who made the allegations.

[00:13:31]And I would ask the court to consider the fact that that's not subject to the allegations are subject to the rigors of cross-examination.

[00:13:40]Uh but I think that >> [clears throat] >> on Mr. Priddy's behalf struggling with depression is a serious matter and I know and I respect Mr. Smith looking at this as if it's like somebody just maliciously or just deciding to be stubborn and self-centered and not complying. But depression is a serious problem. He has um struggled with that. I think that's indicated by the limited information that we have.

[00:14:07]Uh there is no new offense allegations in this.

[00:14:11]These are administrative violations. Of course, those are important, especially reporting.

[00:14:15]But um because of the seriousness of these cases, I would ask that the court give him at least one more chance with a aid of mental health, maybe safety, but also as a follow-up if he gets out to follow-up with Spindletop.

[00:14:30]To address not only any substance abuse problems, but any underlying um mental health issues that may contribute to the substance abuse and his disability to comply and just to continue on probation. All right, thank you, Mr. Kemler. So, Mr. Priddy, the thing is you've been given exactly what Mr. Kemler is asking for. You've already been given that. You said it yourself.

[00:14:51]They recommended Spindletop. They recommended medications. You made conscious decisions not to follow through with what they knew was best for you, which is part of your probation.

[00:15:01]Uh everything that they say you should do is a court order.

[00:15:06]The fact that you are on a probation from uh for possession of a prohibited weapon, like you said, from back when you were 18 years old, put you on a probation, 10-year deferred for that, November of 2016. Then we're back here. You're put on probation for 10 deferred on two aggravated assault causing serious bodily injuries in March of 2022 for shooting two girls, and you got shot.

[00:15:32]That line, luckily you were not a good shot, completely changed the atmosphere in the courtroom. At that moment, the judge stopped viewing this as missed probation appointments and started framing it around the original violence itself. That's devastating for the defense because probation only survives when the judge still believes rehabilitation is realistic. Once trust disappears, prison time usually follows.

[00:15:55]Did you see this sentence coming before the judge even announced it? in self-defense. And it appears that there's no real reason for me not to believe that that's how it happened for a number of reasons. No one else was charged with aggravated assault for shooting you.

[00:16:10]Um all the police reports, everything that went through in those precinct reports previously that I have copies of, all makes it appear to be true that you went there to shoot either Christie and or whoever else uh and luckily were not a good shot. One of the girls got shot three times and survived it.

[00:16:32]And for you to say you have PTSD from getting shot, I can't imagine what she has.

[00:16:37]Um I feel like you've been given every opportunity, and when I look back on some of these times where I give chances like I gave you, um it's very frustrating and a little embarrassing because it looks like I was not really thinking clearly then.

[00:16:51]Um I understand that these are drug allegations. You've been given offer opportunities to get help. I mean, you've been on probation since 20 16 with every opportunity possible. So, at this time in cause number 1624053, I'm going to um also based on the evidence presented today, I am going to find count five true. I'm going so that makes you plead true to counts one, two, three, and six. I'm finding count 5 true based on that evidence in each of the cases.

[00:17:21]Find sufficient evidence in that case to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon. Sentence you to a term of 7 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Corrections. You will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive. In cause number 20-35329, um also find counts 1, 2, 3, and 6 uh that you played true to those freely and voluntarily, find them true. Also find count 5 true. Find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. Sentence you to a term of 12 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Corrections. You will also receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive. There will be an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon in that case.

[00:18:11]In cause number 20-35328, uh again find that you played true to counts 1, 2, 3, and 6 freely and voluntarily, find those counts true.

[00:18:21]Make a finding of count 5 true. Find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. Sentence you to a term of 12 years in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Corrections.

[00:18:35]You will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive. There will also be an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon in that case.

[00:18:45]All three of these will run concurrently, which means together at the same time. I am going to hand you a trial court certification. These were not agreements, you do have some rights to appeal. You can talk to Mr. Kimler about that. I need you both to sign and fill out the bottom and you'll get a copy. I'm also handing you a written admonishment regarding your ineligibility to possess a firearm or ammunition.

[00:19:07]Because of the judgments entered against you, you're ineligible under Texas law to possess a firearm or ammunition.

[00:19:13]Possession of a firearm or ammunition could lead to charges against you.

[00:19:16]Firearm is a legal term and you should read the written admonishment I provided you to see what devices qualify as a firearm. If you have questions about the laws that make you ineligible to possess a firearm or ammunition or about how long that lasts, you can talk with Mr. Kimbler.

[00:19:31]All right.

[00:19:32]Okay. I'm sorry.

[00:19:34]It was 7 12 and 12. 12 and 12.

[00:19:37]Affirmative finding of deadly weapon