Conviction for Man who Shot and Killed a Family of Three

Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General

AUSTIN – Attorney General Paxton’s Criminal Prosecutions Division has helped prosecute and secure the conviction of Robert Allen Satterfield for capital murder, in the 329th District Court of Wharton County. Assistant Attorney General Natalie Tise and legal assistant Michael Roberts aided Wharton County District Attorney Dawn Allison and Wharton County Assistant District Attorney Lance Long in trying this case.

Robert Allen Satterfield

Satterfield was charged with the June 10, 2018, murder of Ray Shawn Hudson, Jr., a 4-year-old boy who would have celebrated his 5th birthday the next day, as well as the boy’s parents. “Baby Ray,” as he was known to family and friends, had traveled out to a rural Wharton County property with his parents, Ray Shawn Hudson, Sr. and Maya Rivera, after being invited out to the property by Satterfield.

That night, Satterfield shot and killed Ray Shawn Hudson, Jr., as well as both of his parents. He then burned the bodies. Any possibility of DNA being recovered to identify the victims was destroyed by the heat of the fire. However, a forensic anthropologist was able to say that the bones later found represented a minimum of three people, and one of those people was a young adult female and one was a child between the ages of 3 and 6.

Days later, alarmed family members reported the couple and their child missing. Using Blue Star, a GPS tracking system on Maya’s vehicle, the car was located in Fort Bend County, Texas on June 14, 2018. Satterfield was driving the vehicle when it was found, and he was arrested for possession of a controlled substance after cocaine was found in searching the car. He was also questioned regarding the missing family.

After giving several interviews denying involvement in the murders, he ultimately confessed and led Texas Rangers and members of the Wharton County Sheriff’s Office to the location where he burned the bodies. He also directed them to various locations where he had discarded evidence connected to the murders.

After roughly three months of trial, in which the Defendant fired his defense counsel and represented himself, Satterfield was convicted of capital murder by a jury that deliberated for approximately five hours. The jury then sentenced Satterfield to the death penalty after hearing testimony about his lengthy criminal history and lack of remorse.