A young man in Texas has been found guilty of a very serious crime. Uriah Lee Urick Jr., who is 18 years old, was found guilty of capital murder. This happened after he planned to rob and kill his girlfriend’s grandmother.
The crime took place in February, and the victim was 61-year-old Tammy King. The trial took place in Galveston County.
In Texas, capital murder is a crime that carries a very serious punishment. Urick will automatically be sentenced to life in prison, and he will not be able to get parole.
During the trial, the people on the side trying to prove Urick was guilty showed the jury text messages and other things from phones and computers. These showed that Urick and his girlfriend, Tara King, had made a detailed plan to rob and kill Tammy.
The messages showed they talked about taking Tammy, killing her, and stealing her money, drugs, and guns. They even pretended that Tammy was hurting them.
The people trying to prove Urick was guilty pointed out specific messages to show that the murder was planned ahead of time. The teens wrote about having bullets that would “shred through skin” and said they planned to “kill her at 4.” They also wrote, “We ride at dawn.”
Urick also said that the killing would be “the start of the rest of our lives.”
Tammy was found dead in her home on February 5. Someone shot her in the head. Her body was found under some blankets.
The teens stole money from a safe in the house. This made the crime even more serious, changing it from just murder to capital murder. They also moved money from Tammy’s bank account to Tara’s account.
Urick’s mother told police that she thought her son could commit murder. She said that Tara “hated” her grandmother because she didn’t want Urick to stay overnight at their house.
Urick and Tara were arrested on February 9 in Laredo, a town on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. They had been getting rides from people they met on social media.
Someone who gave Urick and King a ride to Laredo told police that Urick offered him money and said he “couldn’t get the smell of burning flesh” out of his nose. This person helped the police find the weapons used in the murder.
Urick’s lawyer said that the crime was not planned and that the teens were just “two naive, drug-influenced teenagers chasing independence, not money.”
The sheriff of Galveston County said that “Justice has been served for Tammy King and her loved ones.”
Tara King has also been charged with capital murder. Her trial is scheduled for January 2026.
