A 46-year-old man has been hit with a 42-year prison sentence for a 2020 barbershop murder that left a 20-year-old woman dead and two others assaulted. Damion Campbell pleaded guilty on March 1, to the murder of Helle O'Regan and the assaults on Brittany Hood-Wright, 34, and Gabriella Harrell, 28, the latter two managing to escape the attack relatively unharmed, as reported by FOX San Antonio.
According to a KSAT report, the sentencing, doled out by 186th District Court Judge Kristina Escalona, comes after a vivid and emotional courtroom scene. Family members of the victim and the survivors confronted Campbell, laying bare the anguish he caused with his violent spree at the Diesel Barbershop on Bandera Road.
Campbell, who has been in custody since his arrest, will serve his sentences concurrently, getting a 20-year sentence for each aggravated assault charge slapped on top of the 42 years for murder. Eligible for parole after half the 42-year term is served, Campbell will have credit for the nearly four years already served. Initially questionad by the defense, a court-ordered evaluation debunked Campbell's mental state as a plausible defense, albeit confirming the presence of a mental illness, as defense attorney Albert Gutierrez Jr. suggested.
"The cruelty and unfairness of your actions has taken the kindest soul out of our world. This is now a world that you have no place in, no belonging, and no worth. Your actions have sealed your fate," Mackenna O'Regan told Campbell in an emotionally charged statement obtained by KSAT. Helle O'Regan, the murdered woman, was a transgender woman just starting live her true self, her family emphasized in their statements, underscoring the devastation wrought by Campbell's actions.
The grim proceedings highlighted the continued suffering of the survivors. Gabby Harrell, through her tears, told of her ordeal since the attack—stabbed and cut multiple times, she remains haunted by the memories and grief of that fateful day. On the stand, witnesses recounted how Campbell choked O'Regan until unconscious before stabbing her repeatedly, leaving an indelible mark of violence on those present and the community at large.
The prosecution team, led by Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Jeffrey Wright and Jeff Mulliner, secured this lengthy sentence after a wrenching trial process, a detail reported by FOX San Antonio. With Campbell behind bars, the effort to find justice for O'Regan and the survivors momentarily reaches a conclusion, even as the emotional scars and remembrance of loss persist amidst the search for solace.
