Paige Terrell Lawyer has been sentenced to death by a Tarrant County jury for the 2018 murders of his former girlfriend, 30-year-old O'Tishae Womack, and her daughter, 10-year-old Ka'Myria Womack. The decision was reached after Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Lloyd Whelchel and Dale Smith outlined the events leading up to the tragic deaths.
On April 5, 2018, O'Tishae Womack and her sister encountered Lawyer multiple times during a walk. It was revealed that Lawyer and O'Tishae had a history of domestic violence, with instances of Lawyer choking her. The following day, O'Tishae failed to appear for her morning walk with her sister and could not be reached by phone or door knocks. Concerned, her sister gained entry to O'Tishae's apartment and discovered the bodies of O'Tishae and Ka'Myria. Both victims had been strangled.
"He brutally, with no justification, took the lives of two people," Whelchel told the jury. "He is not going to change.... He is going to be a future danger. And you know that."
Prosecutors presented evidence linking Lawyer to the crime scene, including his DNA on various items and surfaces, as well as a confession he made to his uncle after being arrested near Nashville, Tennessee.
O'Tishae's body was on the kitchen floor, with blood seeping out of her face and a grocery bag over her head. The body of Ka'Myria, a fourth-grader, was upstairs in a bedroom, covered with a blanket. Lawyer's DNA was found on the knot in the bag around O'Tishae's head, under O'Tishae's fingemails, on Ka'Myria's shorts, inside Ka'Myria's underwear, on a bleach bucket, and on a Lysol can. His fingerprint, in Ka'Myria's blood, was found on a mop.
"Two lives were extinguished that day," Smith said. "Both died as a result of strangulation, the defendant's calling card."
Prosecutors suggested that the murders were committed to prevent O'Tishae from testifying against Lawyer in an upcoming domestic violence trial. Additionally, it was revealed during the trial that Ka'Myria had been viciously raped.
"Your horrendous act has devastated our family," Lashundra, O'Tishae's sister, said after the sentence was read. "You took a huge chunk of our hearts.... You forever will be known as a murderer, a rapist, and a coward."
The case was investigated by DA Investigator Caleb Blank, with acknowledgment given to the Fort Worth Police Department for their efforts in ensuring community safety.
