Death Sentence in Car Wash Slayings

 

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A fired employee was sentenced to lethal injection today after being convicted of killing two former co-workers at an Irving car wash.

The Dallas County jury deliberated several hours before sentencing Robert Wayne Harris to death. He could have received life in prison.

Harris, 28, was found guilty Tuesday of two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Mi-T-Fine Car Wash employees cashier Rhoda Wheeler, 45, and assistant manager Augustin Villasenor, 36, in March.

Also killed were Villasenor’s brother, Benjamin Villasenor, 32; Roberto Jimenez Jr., 15; and 48-year-old car wash manager Dennis Lee. Harris was not tried for those three deaths, although he is charged in those slayings. He has also been charged in the unrelated death of an Irving woman.

The car wash workers were shot in the back of the head just three days after Harris was fired from the business.

‘Do What the Lord Tells You’

Harris has confessed to the killings several times, although he pleaded innocent when the trial began Monday.

On Thursday, defense psychiatrist Dr. Jay Crowder testified the 28-year-old Harris suffers from depression and anti-social behavior, which are compounded by a low IQ. Crowder also said Harris’ stutter was the result of Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by exaggerated tics.

Harris’ brother, William Harris, later testified about the pair’s difficult upbringing, including the violent death of their father, who was strangled.

William Harris, 30, was questioned about the capital punishment being considered against his brother.

“All that I would ask you to do, as Christian people, is that you do what the Lord tells you to do,” he told jurors.