Cassandra Damper: Facebook Live Shooting, Plea, and Shock Probation

Cassandra Damper is the Houston woman who shot Devyn Holmes in the head while waving a pistol inside a car on Easter Sunday 2018, an act broadcast on Facebook Live. She pleaded guilty in 2019 to aggravated assault with reckless serious bodily injury and to tampering with evidence, was sentenced to ten years and five years to run concurrently, and was released after six months when the trial judge granted shock probation under Texas law.

The Easter Sunday Shooting

Around 2:25 a.m. on April 1, 2018, Damper, then 25, was sitting in a car with Holmes, 26, and a third man at a Valero gas station at Almeda Road and Southmore Boulevard in Houston’s Museum District. A phone was streaming the group to Facebook Live and Instagram. Damper and the other man were handling two pistols on camera. She waved her gun toward the lens and then toward Holmes, who can be heard saying, “You’re making me nervous,” and trying to steady her hand. The third man said, “It ain’t got no clip, bud.” The gun fired. The bullet struck Holmes in the right side of his head.¹

Damper called 911 and told dispatchers Holmes had shot himself. Officers detained her at the scene. While in custody she tried to wipe gunshot residue from her hands, and she was arrested on the spot for tampering with or fabricating evidence.²

How the Livestream Changed the Case

Her account did not survive the video. The stream, posted to the “Get It Off Your Chest” Facebook group, showed Damper pulling the trigger. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo received a copy from Shaquille O’Neal, who had seen the footage circulating online.³ On April 4, 2018, three days after the shooting, prosecutors upgraded the charges to include aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, filed in Harris County’s 339th State District Court.²

What Happened to Devyn Holmes

Holmes was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital in critical condition and put on life support. He was upgraded to stable on April 4, 2018, opened his eyes on April 11, came off the respirator on April 22, and said his first word, “alright,” on April 30.⁴

He spent about eight months between the hospital and physical therapy and was discharged in a wheelchair on September 29, 2018. He had to relearn how to talk, write, stand, and walk. The left side of his body stayed weak, and fine motor tasks remained difficult. He told reporters he had no memory of the shooting or of his early weeks in the hospital.⁵⁴

Guilty Plea and Ten-Year Sentence

On August 28, 2019, Damper pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with reckless serious bodily injury and to tampering with evidence. Her attorney, Monique Sparks, said Damper had turned down an earlier 15-year plea offer from the district attorney. By pleading open, without an agreed sentence, Damper exposed herself to anywhere from probation to 20 years, with the judge deciding.⁶ Sparks called the shooting “an accident between friends.”⁷

Sentencing came in December 2019 before Judge Jesse McClure III. On December 16, Holmes faced Damper in court for the first time since the shooting. He testified that he had been “living in his own prison,” unable to walk, dress, or use the restroom without help, and asked for prison time. He described Damper as “just an acquaintance,” rejecting the defense’s framing of the two as friends.⁸

Damper took the stand the same day. “I shot Devyn,” she told the court, calling it a “reckless accident” and saying she was “in disbelief because I really thought the gun was not loaded.” She read a letter of apology and said guilt had driven her to consider suicide. Prosecutors pointed out that she had lied to police by claiming Holmes shot himself.³⁹

On December 17, 2019, Judge McClure sentenced Damper to ten years for the aggravated assault count and five years for tampering with evidence, to run concurrently.³

Released After Six Months on Shock Probation

Damper served six months. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.202 gives the trial court 180 days of jurisdiction after a defendant enters prison. Within that window, the judge can suspend the remaining sentence and place the defendant on community supervision if the judge finds further imprisonment would not benefit them and the defendant has never before served a felony prison sentence. The mechanism is known as shock probation.¹⁰

Sparks filed the motion. A hearing was held in May 2020, and on June 4, 2020, Judge McClure granted it. Damper walked out on June 18, 2020, exactly six months into her sentence. Her probation conditions included regular meetings with a community supervisor, drug and alcohol testing, travel restrictions, 10,000 hours of community service, full-time employment or school, and $50,000 in restitution to Holmes.¹¹ Sparks rejected the idea that the ruling was a “get out of jail free card,” saying the judge was “using all the tools in his box to apply justice in this case.”¹²

Prosecutors and the Family Object

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office opposed the motion. Spokesperson Dane Schiller said, “We argued against freeing Ms. Damper, who is just six months into a 10-year prison sentence, but we respect the decision by Judge McClure.” Prosecutors said that despite her plea, Damper “has never taken full responsibility for her actions, including shifting blame and minimizing her actions.” The DA’s office did not pursue further legal action.¹¹

Sheree Holmes, Devyn’s mother, said she was devastated. “If it was his child, then would she be out?” she said of Judge McClure. “That’s how he needs to think about it. If it was his child, would you give her six months? Because I doubt it.”¹¹

1
Click2Houston. Woman Who Shot Man on Facebook Live Gets 15 Years in Prison
2
Houston Police Department. Aggravated Assault Charge Filed in Shooting at 5203 Almeda Road
3
ABC7. Man Shot on Facebook Live Confronts Shooter at Sentencing
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ABC13. Devyn Holmes Facebook Live Shooting Victim’s Recovery Milestones
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ABC7 Chicago. Devyn Holmes Speaks for First Time Since Facebook Live Shooting
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ABC7 Chicago. Woman Pleads Guilty to Shooting Man in Head on Facebook Live
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ABC30. Woman Pleads Guilty to Shooting Man in Head on Facebook Live
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ABC7 New York. Woman Sentenced to Prison After Facebook Live Shooting
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Fox 35 Orlando. Woman Who Shot Man on Facebook Live Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison
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FindLaw. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.202
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ABC13. Facebook Live Shooter Released From Prison Early
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ABC13. Facebook Live Shooter to Be Released From Prison Early