A Louisiana man who had lived in Canyon Lake only a week when he shot his father in June 2022 received a life sentence Friday for the murder.
Judge Bruce Boyer of the 22nd District Court presided over the trial.
Yakob Hickman, 27, was working at Fischer’s Neighborhood Market in Startzville when he shot and killed his father, 51-year old Paul Stautzenberger, at a residence in the 300 block of Campbell Drive.
Over the course of a 20-minute phone made to a 911 dispatcher, Hickman confessed to emptying six rounds of ammunition into his father but couldn’t say he was sorry.
“To be honest with you, I feel so (expletive deleted) great,” he said.
The tape was played for jurors, who also heard testimony from Comal County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) deputies and a crime scene technician.
In recorded phone calls made from county jail, Hickman also said he was having a simple conversation with Stautzenberger but the victim “kept on running his (expletive deleted) mouth.”
The murder occurred less than a week after Hickman moved to the area from Louisiana at his father’s suggestion.
Stautzenberger was seated on his couch eating a salad when his son shot him. He sustained six gunshot wounds to the neck and head.
After sentencing, family members read allocution statements saying Hickman killed the one person who truly wanted him to succeed.
In a statement, the district attorney’s office said Hickman’s sentence was necessary to protect the community.
“The most important thing is that if I ever did get out of here is what guarantees me from ever getting stuck in positions that would cause me to come back?” Hickman asked his mother in a call from the jail.
Assistant district attorneys Jennifer Feldman and Henna Le Vasseur prosecuted the case on behalf of the State of Texas.
The statement also thanked Donna Dishman and dog Gander with Canine Classmates but did not explain the reasons for their involvement in the case.
