Houston, TX – In a courtroom decision that underscored the severe consequences of road rage, 26-year-old Messiah Pickens-McCoy was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of 67-year-old Gregory Sharretts. The sentencing followed Pickens-McCoy’s guilty plea in a case that shook the Texas City community on January 26, 2022.
The fatal incident, captured on dashcam video, occurred when Sharretts and Pickens-McCoy simultaneously attempted to merge into the same lane on Highway 3, leading to a heated altercation. Pickens-McCoy escalated the confrontation by firing several shots at Sharretts’ truck, tragically resulting in Sharretts being hit in the back of the head and killed instantly.
The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office highlighted the clear evidence provided by the dashcam footage, which depicted a hand wielding a handgun from Pickens-McCoy’s vehicle window, discharging multiple rounds.
In the aftermath of the shooting, a police officer, responding to the sound of gunfire, pursued a vehicle clocked at speeds exceeding 100 mph. The chase concluded with the arrest of Pickens-McCoy, during which authorities discovered a 9 mm Glock pistol and a spent shell casing in proximity to the windshield wipers of his car.
The victim, a well-regarded restaurant owner and grandfather, leaves behind a grieving family and community. His widow, Dee Byrd-Sharretts, expressed her profound loss and the senselessness of the violence in an interview, highlighting the irreplaceable void left by Sharretts’ untimely death.