A 33-year-old Fort Worth man, Lazarus Gomes, has been ordered to serve 25 years in state prison after a judge yanked his probation in a domestic violence case that piled up multiple intimate-partner violence convictions while he was already under court supervision.
Prosecutors said the new offenses were committed while Gomes was on probation for manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance, which meant the case was pulled out of community supervision and sent to state prison time instead. The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office later released a court transcript and an update on the sentence.
According to a Tarrant County District Attorney's Office post that included the transcript, Gomes was convicted of multiple intimate-partner violence offenses while on probation and had that probation revoked before he was sentenced. The post said Gomes had been serving probation on the drug case and that the new convictions included assault of a family member with a previous conviction, assault by impeding breathing, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The update also identified Assistant District Attorneys Morgan Blair and Jaimie Jernigan as the prosecutors on the case, and credited Investigator Darla Dowell and Victim Coordinator Carrie Farley for their roles in bringing the case to sentencing.
Charges and legal context
Those accusations carry heavier penalties under Texas law. Choking, or any act that cuts off or restricts a person’s breathing, can elevate a family-violence assault from a misdemeanor to a felony. A prior family-violence conviction can further enhance the charge and potential punishment. Texas Penal Code §22.01 spells out the state’s assault statute and details how impeding breathing or having a prior domestic-violence conviction can raise the offense level and affect sentencing ranges.
Why strangulation is treated seriously
Advocates and researchers have long warned that strangulation is a major warning sign for violence that can quickly turn deadly. The Texas Council on Family Violence publishes fatality reports and reviews that document how choking often appears as a precursor to homicide in abusive relationships. That pattern helps explain why prosecutors tend to zero in on those counts in family-violence prosecutions.
The DA's office publicly thanked the Fort Worth Police Department for its work on the investigation and for what it called a commitment to community safety. According to the office, the court revoked Gomes's probation after investigators presented evidence of the new family-violence offenses, and the judge then imposed the 25-year prison sentence.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline offers help 24 hours a day at thehotline.org or by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In this case, local victim-services staff were recognized in the DA's update for supporting the victim throughout the investigation and court process.
