Local Man Sentenced To 34 Years for the Murder of his Father

Press Release from the Office of Fayette Co. Attorney James Herbrich

A Fayette County jury recently found Shane Machicek guilty of murdering his father and sentenced him to 34 years in prison.

The case stems from an incident that occurred June 24, 2023, on Upton Ave. in Schulenburg.

The trial began on Oct. 6. The State was represented by County Attorney James Herbrich and Assistant County Attorney Kelly Dickson.

The defendant was represented by two law firms, The Kenny Bigham Law Firm and Seymour and Vaughn Law firm. At times there were five attorneys at the counsel table with the Defendant with three additional support staff and clerks.

Officer Byron Powe with the Schulenburg Police Department took the stand first and testified that Shane Machicek admitted to shooting the victim when he arrived. Officer Powe testified that he immediately took Shane into custody and then went to check on the victim, 64-year-old Ricky Machicek of Schulenburg. Officer Powe secured the firearm while EMS checked on Ricky Machicek. Unfortunately, Ricky Machicek had succumbed to his injuries. Officer Powe testified that there was no weapon found on the deceased.

Next Texas Ranger Ried Rackley testified and stated that he interviewed the defendant and the defendant claimed that he had acted in self-defense. The defendant claimed the gun went off accidentally when he was in a physical altercation with his dad. The defendant did admit to leaving the home to retrieve his firearm from his vehicle and returning to his house to find his dad in the kitchen preparing his meal for the evening. Ultimately, Shane Machicek admitted that his father was unarmed but claimed nonetheless that his father kept coming at him and the gun went off when he head-butted his father.

Then a relative of the defendant took the stand and contradicted the statement given to Reid Rackley by Shane Machicek. Specifically, he claimed that he witnessed the defendant five to six feet away from the victim, and that Shane raised his arm and pulled the trigger. The relative claimed the victim fell where he was standing.

The State called Dr. Laura Edelman with the Texas Department of Public Services Crime Lab who stated she performed the autopsy on the victim. She stated that the entry wound was in the neck, the bullet traveled in a slightly upward direction, and the bullet lodged in the spinal cord of the victim. She stated that the victim lost all motor movement in his extremities most likely instantly and would have fallen down.

The State then called Jeffrey Kelly, a firearms expert who testified about the functionality of the firearm and stated with certainty that the firearm recovered from the crime scene was indeed the firearm that killed the victim.

Finally, Jamie Jackson was called to the witness stand and stated that Shane Machicek had moved the firearm and the shell casing closer to the body of the deceased.

The State rested and then the defense put on several witnesses including Officer Toby McFadden and Jonathon Drozd who testified to previous run-ins that the Schulenburg Police Department had with the victim where a shotgun was produced by the victim threatening those individuals.

The defense rested and then the State called, Kirsten Hazlewood, the ex-fiancé of the defendant. Kirsten often claimed a lapse in memory stating that she did not remember what happened. That State asked if it would help to jog her memory if she watched her videotaped statement she gave the night of the murder. Kirsten Hazlewood became very emotional, slamming her drink down declaring she was not going to review her statement she gave the Ranger. Ultimately, she too witnessed the defendant raise his hand and shoot the victim. She described the victim as standing with his hands up, but unarmed.

Aaron Seymour in closing argument, argued that the State had not met their burden. Seymour stated Shane Machicek was defending himself against a violent victim with a history of domestic violence that had threatened to kill Shane Machicek the night of the shooting. He claimed law enforcement had failed to secure key pieces of evidence the night of the shooting including drug evidence and that the crime scene was not properly photographed prior to EMS arriving and that EMS could have moved any weapon the victim had on his person. Seymour further indicated Shane could have accidentally discharged the firearm while head-butting the defendant, even doing an in court demonstration with fellow attorney Tommie Vaughn. The defense showed a picture of the victim to the jury pointing out that the nose of the victim appeared to be swollen further demonstrating that he was in fact head-butted.

County Attorney James Herbrich countered, showing the same photograph to the jury of the victim. He reminded the jury that Dr. Edelman said his nose was shaped this way and was not swollen. Herbrich further pointed out the body camera footage from Byron Powe’s camera revealed upon entry to the home prior to EMS arrival that there were no weapons on the decedent. He further pointed to testimony from both eyewitnesses and the defendant’s admission that the victim was unarmed. Herbrich stated that the Ranger requested toxicology evidence on the victim, which revealed the victim had cocaine, methamphetamine, and alcohol in his system at the time of death. Herbrich praised the work that law enforcement did in the call. Herbrich then went through each witness’s testimony and argued that the State had clearly met their burden. Two witnesses with identical stories pointed to Shane Machicek as the shooter and both discredited his self-defense claims. The physical evidence supported the eye witness version of the events.

After approximately two hours of deliberations the jury returned unanimously with a guilty verdict.

On punishment, the County Attorney called three law enforcement witnesses to prove that while on bail, Shane Machicek possessed a firearm during one law enforcement encounter and he possessed methamphetamines on a second encounter.

A detailed look at the records revealed that Shane’s bond was revoked three times pending trial and he posted a new bond each time. At closing argument, defense attorney Tommie Vaughn asked the jury to sentence the defendant to the lower end of the spectrum. Shane Machicek was looking at 5 to 99 years or life.

CountyAttorney Herbrich argued that in Fayette County, life still has value and Ricky Machicek’s life had value. County Attorney Herbrich asked the jury to consider life and asked the jury to send a clear message to the community: if you take a life you will receive a life sentence.

The trial concluded on Friday, Oct. 10, when the jury sentenced Shane Machicek to 34 years in prison.