Attorney Susan Criss defends her client in Heights murder trial

Roger Lee Sanders Jr., 33, was indicted on a murder charge after Heights police said he shot and killed Allen Lee Jones on Oct. 5, 2022. Sanders was booked into the Bell County Jail on Oct. 6, 2022, and was being held on Monday with a bond of $300,000, listed on the first-degree felony charge. 

On Monday Aug. 12, 2024, Sanders’s defense attorney, Susan Criss,  asked the jury to discern the “why.”

“Why this happened is why you’re here; why this happened is everything,” said Susan Criss, during her opening statement. “My client will testify and you’ll see that he’s a cheerful, soft-spoken person who was working multiple jobs at that time to support himself and family members.”

Read the ongoing news coverage for this trial here:

Trial begins in case of Cove man accused of killing man at Heights store

Heights murder trial: Man killed trying to collect $50 bet on Dallas Cowboys football game

Witnesses to fatal shooting at Heights store say both punch and gunfire were unexpected

Heights murder trial: Defense questions reliability of witnesses, law enforcement investigation

‘He brought a gun to a fist fight’: Cove man facing prison if convicted of murder

After deliberating most of the day on Heights murder case, jury could not agree

Attorney Susan E. Criss spent 15 years serving as a Texas District Judge. She is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She is also a former prosecutor who served almost a decade in the Galveston County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. Her experience as a prosecutor and judge allow her to understand how the other key players in the courtroom may approach your case. MORE ABOUT SUSAN.