FORNEY, Texas — A Dallas man involved in a road-rage shooting in Forney in 2017 and subsequent high-speed chase on Interstate 20 in Kaufman County has been convicted by a federal grand jury of, among other charges, murder in connection with the body of a 19-year-old woman being discovered in his vehicle's trunk.
FORNEY, Texas — A Dallas man involved in a road-rage shooting in Forney in 2017 and subsequent high-speed chase on Interstate 20 in Kaufman County has been convicted by a federal grand jury of, among other charges, murder in connection with the body of a 19-year-old woman being discovered in his vehicle's trunk.
Following a four-day trial last week, 35-year-old Freddie Gilbert was found guilty by a federal jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, discharging a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and murder resulting from the use of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
Gilbert, a convicted and avowed cocaine dealer, fatally shot 19-year-old Jacquisha Isaac in the head on October 29, 2017, while she sat in the passenger seat of his car — likely firing the shot through the window while standing outside of the vehicle, according to evidence at trial. Prosecutors say he then stashed her body in the trunk of the vehicle.
Hours later, the Forney Police Department received a 911 call about a man who had fired a gun at their vehicle on U.S. Highway 80 near County Road 212. A Kaufman County Sheriff's Office deputy located, what was later determined to be Gilbert's vehicle, on eastbound Interstate 20 and conducted a traffic stop.
Gilbert initially stopped for the deputy but fled at speeds in excess of 110 miles per hour before wrecking near mile marker 511, just west of the Kaufman-Van Zandt County line.
There, police located the body of Isaac inside the trunk.
"Investigators identified Ms. Isaac’s blood inside the car, as well as on the clothing Mr. Gilbert was wearing when he was apprehended and on the revolver he used to kill the young girl," stated a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. "They also discovered a bullet he had purchased the day before covered in Ms. Isaac’s blood on the floorboard, gun residue on Mr. Gilbert’s hands, and his palm print on the trunk of the car where he’d stashed her body."
“Far too often, drug trafficking spurs horrific acts of violence,” said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “In this case, a known cocaine dealer legally barred from possessing a weapon gunned down an innocent 19-year-old, then shoved her in the trunk like a piece of trash. We will not allow his crimes to go unpunished.”
“The defendant in this case is a dangerous criminal that not only committed murder, but routinely committed acts of violence and sold large quantities of drugs,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the Dallas Field Office. “The FBI will continue working with our law enforcement partners to eradicate drug-related violence and protect the well-being of the communities we serve.”
At sentencing, Gilbert faces up to life in federal prison.