A Tarrant County judge has sent 24-year-old Koby Burkhart to prison, ordering three concurrent 10-year sentences for tampering with evidence tied to a January 2025 road-rage killing in southeast Fort Worth. The same jury that heard the case could not reach an agreement on the murder charge, leaving that count unresolved as prosecutors decide whether to retry him. Prosecutors say the tampering convictions stem from efforts to hide a firearm and conceal Burkhart’s SUV after the shooting.
Judge George Gallagher, sitting by assignment in the 371st District Court, assessed punishment after jurors found Burkhart guilty on three tampering counts and Burkhart elected to have the judge decide punishment, according to the Fort Worth Star‑Telegram. Gallagher imposed 10-year terms on each count to run concurrently; Burkhart will be eligible for parole after five years, and the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office has not publicly said whether it will seek a retrial.
Dashcam and Surveillance Video Help Detectives Build the Case
Investigators say the victim’s dashcam, nearby surveillance video and license-plate reader hits allowed them to trace Burkhart’s Equinox and reconstruct the sequence leading up to the shooting, showing both cars stop at a light near the roundabout at East Rosedale and South Ayers and two gunshots audible on the dashcam recording. Video shows the victim’s Hyundai lose control and end up in the median, and detectives wrote in an affidavit that Burkhart later hid a pistol under the house, removed plates from his SUV and covered the vehicle to avoid detection. Those details are described by CBS News Texas.
Jury Stalls on Murder, Convicts on Tampering Counts
After about a day of deliberations, and a brief return to the jury room the following Monday, jurors were unable to agree on the murder count and Judge Gallagher declared a mistrial, per the Fort Worth Star‑Telegram. The panel did convict Burkhart on three counts of tampering with evidence for covering his Chevrolet Equinox, removing the plates and hiding an AR-style pistol in a crawl space; prosecutors urged the maximum terms, calling it a “dead body-involved” tampering.
What the Prison Time Means and What Comes Next
Tampering with or fabricating physical evidence is a felony in Texas; a third-degree felony carries a penalty range of two to 10 years in prison under the state Texas Penal Code § 12.34. Judges can sometimes place eligible defendants on community supervision instead of imposing prison time depending on prior record and other legal factors, but prosecutors argued the court-filed evidence supported prison terms in this case. The district attorney has not publicly announced whether it will retry the murder charge.
Family Remembers the Victim
The victim, 62-year-old Ricky Langs, was remembered by his daughter as a devoted family man; Langs’ daughter told CBS News Texas, “I’m going to miss him laughing and having a good time.” The family has urged anyone who filmed or witnessed the incident to contact investigators as the case moves forward.
Burkhart remains in custody under the new sentence, and whether prosecutors will pursue a retrial on the unresolved murder charge will depend on decisions by the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and any additional evidence or filings the office chooses to present.
