Defendant With Long History of Violence Sentenced to 99 Years

Aransas County Attorney’s Office

ROCKPORT, TEXAS (News Release) - On October 31, 2024, an Aransas County Jury found Christopher Havens guilty of Assault Family Violence Impeding Breath. The next day, the jury assessed the maximum sentence allowed by law of 10 years confinement in prison.

Christopher Havens

On May 20, 2025, a different Aransas County jury found the Defendant guilty of three counts of Aggravated Assault of a Public Servant. The next day, the same jury sentenced him to 99 years in each count with a $10,000 fine in each count.

The evidence presented in both trials showed a very long pattern of violence, manipulation, and an escalation of behavior. Both juries heard that on December 23, 2018, the Defendant was dating J.H. at the time. In the evening, the two of them were working at a food truck before the Defendant drove J.H. to his home where he lived with his father. While still in the car, the Defendant squeezed the neck of J.H. and impeded her breath. Both juries saw pictures of J.H.’s neck which revealed bruising in the shape of the Defendant’s fingers. J.H. passed out after being strangled, and when she came to, realized the Defendant had drug her to a field to leave her there. Eventually, J.H. was able to make it to a neighbor’s house where she was able to eventually go to a hospital. In addition to the injuries on her neck, J.H. also had a black eye, a slight bald spot on her head where hair had been ripped out, bruising on her elbows, and various scrapes all over her body.

Defense attorneys in both cases attempted to place the blame on J.H. for the assault and attempted to claim that her memory was not accurate due to a drug conviction from 2015. J.H. eventually was able to get a protective order against the Defendant in 2019. The Defendant violated the protective order by contacting J.H. and kept telling her she needed to drop the charges. The Defendant was convicted of the charge involving J.H. in October of 2024.

After dating J.H., the Defendant started dating R.H. Within months of dating R.H., the Defendant became violent. In June of 2021, the Defendant strangled R.H., and when law enforcement arrived, the Defendant locked himself in R.H’s home. Law enforcement did not arrest the Defendant at that time. In September of 2021, the Defendant again assaulted R.H. by threatening her with a gun and striking her with his hands. In March of 2022, the Defendant attempted to enter R.H’s home through a window with a gun when she would not allow him through the door. R.H’s three-year-old son was also in the house at the time. The Defendant was stopped by law enforcement approximately half a mile from R.H’s home with a loaded gun under his front seat. A protection order was issued for R.H. In April of 2022, the Defendant took R.H. to his home. R.H. explained that she had to comply since the Defendant had threatened her son’s life multiple times.

In April of 2022, the Defendant told R.H. she needed to drop the charges against him. When R.H. said she wouldn’t, the Defendant smashed R.H’s head against the concrete. While R.H. was down, he stomped on multiple parts of her body. Both juries saw a golf ball sized lump on R.H’s forehead after the assault. They also saw the scrapes to her head, face, and arms. Additionally, her arm and shoulder were green with bruising from where the Defendant had stomped on her. Defense attorneys in both cases try to discredit R.H.’s credibility based on a DWI she got in 2018.

On July 31, 2023, the Defendant was in the Aransas County Jail. By this time, the Defendant had already displayed multiple behavioral issues and had to be pepper sprayed, tazed, and put in a restraint chair multiple times. As a result, the Defendant was placed in segregation. The jurors watched as the Defendant pulled a blanket over his body and concealed a pen on his person. The video then showed the Defendant rush three jailers, stabbing them with the pen and consistently aiming for their heads and faces. Photographs showed the jailers injuries. Thankfully, none of the jailers suffered serious physical injuries. However, the jury still found that the pen was used as a deadly weapon. The evidence showed that even after this incident, the Defendant continued to cause problems at the jail on multiple occasions after the stabbing. The Defendant was convicted of three counts of Aggravated Assault of a Public Servant on May 20, 2025.

At the punishment portion of the May 2025 jury trial, ACA Johnson advised the jury that the Defendant was long overdue for reaping the consequences of his actions. The jury took approximately 13 minutes to sentence the Defendant to 99 years and a $10,000 fine in each count for the charges of Aggravated Assault of a Public Servant. Unfortunately, by law, all three 99-year sentences must be served concurrently.

The Aransas County Sherriff’s Office investigated all of the offenses described above. We would like to thank them for all of their hard work in all of these cases. We would also like to thank the continued hard work and sacrifice of our jailers, who consistently have to put up with unwarranted hostile behavior and yet still continue to serve our community. We would also like to thank the brave women and men who came forward to testify against the Defendant.

Terms & Phrases:

Consecutively - the sentences are served after the previous sentence has been completed - this is also referred to as stacking

Concurrently - the sentences are served at the same time for the amount of the longest sentence