FORT WORTH, Texas - A Tarrant County jury has sentenced 79-year-old Murphy Ward to 35 years in prison after finding him guilty of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
The conviction stems from an August 14, 2022 shooting at a Fort Worth apartment complex. Prosecutors said Ward got into a confrontation with his girlfriend’s 24-year-old son, Talon Connery. During the altercation, Ward shot Connery once in the back, leaving him paralyzed for life.
Connery testified during the trial from a wheelchair. Assistant District Attorney David Elder told jurors the victim is now “a shadow of the man he was before the defendant shot him.”
Court records show Ward was on parole at the time of the shooting for a prior conviction of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, the same type of offense. He was taken into custody on February 8, 2023, and has remained at the Tarrant County Corrections Center since then.
The 35-year sentence ensures Ward will remain behind bars for decades following the violent confrontation that permanently altered the victim’s life.
