Dorothy Sanders stopped to perform CPR after what looked like a crash, only to encounter the armed man later convicted of two killings.
WACO, Texas — Dorothy Sanders thought she had stopped at a roadside emergency. Instead, the Veterans Affairs nurse became a witness in a double-murder case, telling jurors that the man who had shot a father and son returned while she was performing CPR and threatened her until she backed away.
That encounter formed one of the most striking parts of the prosecution against Romi Frentescu, 33, who was convicted Aug. 12 of capital murder in the deaths of Michael David Morris, 38, and his 18-year-old son, Braxton Johnson. The McLennan County jury deliberated for about an hour before finding Frentescu guilty. Prosecutors had chosen not to seek the death penalty, so the conviction resulted in an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. The verdict followed testimony not only about the gunfire at the Bruceville-Eddy intersection but also about what witnesses said Frentescu did after the shooting, when strangers began stopping to help.
Sanders testified that she was traveling with her husband and teenage son when they came upon the scene near Mackey Ranch Road and Old Moody Road in October 2024. Like another passing motorist who later testified, the family initially believed they were looking at the aftermath of a motorcycle or vehicle crash. Sanders got out and began giving aid to Morris. She told jurors she detected a faint pulse and performed CPR. Then a red pickup arrived. According to her testimony, Frentescu approached and ordered her to stop trying to save Morris, threatening to shoot her if she continued. Sanders said she raised her hands and moved back because she feared for herself and her family.
Other witnesses offered accounts that supported the basic sequence. Brian Pugh, a friend of Morris who had been at the confrontation, testified that Frentescu had left in a red pickup after the shootings and then returned. Pugh said Frentescu was armed when he confronted the nurse and directed her away from Morris. Another area resident testified that he heard Frentescu use profane language while saying the wounded man should be allowed to die. William Weaver, who arrived with his wife believing there had been an accident, said he saw the red pickup return and an armed man get out. Weaver testified that the man ordered him to remain where he was, prompting Weaver and his wife to back away and leave.
The nurse’s experience came after a confrontation whose beginning was bitterly disputed at trial. Pugh testified that he, Morris and Johnson had returned to Morris’ residence after helping someone with a motorcycle when Frentescu passed nearby on his own motorcycle and revved the engine. Morris got on his motorcycle and followed. Pugh and Johnson followed in Morris’ pickup truck. At the intersection, Pugh said, Frentescu and Morris assumed fighting stances. Johnson then got out and ran toward his father. Pugh testified that Morris raised a hand toward his son, apparently telling him to stop. Frentescu stepped backward, drew a pistol and fired at the father and son, according to Pugh’s account.
Pugh said he did not see Morris with a knife. That point became important because Frentescu’s defense depended on his contention that the confrontation had turned into a deadly attack against him. Medical examiners testified about the gunshot wounds that killed both men, while Pugh described attempting to escape after Frentescu turned toward him with the gun. Pugh said he ducked around the pickup and trailer, then tried to drive away, striking Frentescu’s motorcycle as he maneuvered. After Frentescu left, Pugh returned to Morris and Johnson. Passing motorists began stopping, bringing Sanders and other witnesses into a crime scene they had initially mistaken for an accident.
Frentescu testified in his own defense for about two hours. He said the fatal encounter followed a long period of harassment and threats from Morris. According to Frentescu, Morris had previously threatened his home and dog, and on the day of the shooting Morris rode or drove near his home, revved an engine and made an obscene gesture. Frentescu acknowledged going toward Morris’ residence afterward and then riding to the intersection where the confrontation occurred. He told jurors that his purpose was to confront Morris about the alleged harassment and ask him to stop. He said he did not ride there intending to kill anyone.
His description of the fight sharply diverged from Pugh’s. Frentescu said Morris became enraged, struck him and produced a switchblade. He testified that Johnson then hit him in the side of the head, knocking him down and leaving his legs weak as he tried to move away. Frentescu said he fired his pistol because he believed the men were continuing toward him and he feared for his life. Defense attorneys argued that the shooting was self-defense and told jurors that Morris had been the aggressor in an already hostile relationship. Prosecution witnesses, however, said they did not see Morris carrying the knife Frentescu described, and Pugh testified that Frentescu was standing when he fired.
The state urged jurors to look at Frentescu’s conduct before and after the shootings as well as the split-second moment when the shots were fired. Prosecutors emphasized that Frentescu chose to ride after Morris despite his claims of earlier threats and did not call police about the alleged harassment. A jail witness testified that Frentescu later described intentionally drawing Morris away from his residence, comparing the process to using bait so Morris would follow. Frentescu denied making those statements. The state argued that the testimony supported a deliberate confrontation rather than an unavoidable attack, while the defense challenged the credibility and meaning of the prosecution’s evidence.
The conflict also had a motorcycle-group dimension. Testimony identified Frentescu as a former secretary of the Ugly Man Cossacks and Morris as a member of the Cossacks 1%ers, a splinter faction. A Department of Public Safety gang expert described hostility that developed between the organizations after a split and explained that conduct such as revving a motorcycle outside another member’s home could be understood as deliberate disrespect. The expert also testified about a reported hostile directive aimed at members of the splinter group. Prosecutors used the background to explain the longstanding animosity; defense attorneys used the same history to support their claim that Frentescu had reason to fear Morris.
Sanders’ testimony brought the jury back from the group rivalry to what happened on the roadside after two men had been shot. She said she was focused on maintaining Morris’ pulse when Frentescu returned. Her account did not depend on who had made the first hostile gesture earlier in the day or on the internal history of the motorcycle organizations. Instead, it described the behavior she said she personally encountered while trying to give emergency medical care. She testified that she stopped because she believed she could be shot in front of her husband and son. Sanders also said the experience had lasting effects on her family and that she and her son later received therapy.
The prosecution’s case did not rest on the nurse alone. Jurors heard from eyewitnesses to the shooting, medical examiners, a state gang expert, a jail witness and Frentescu himself. They also heard the defense theory that Morris produced a knife and Johnson struck Frentescu before he fired. But Sanders’ account added a separate moment for jurors to consider: the allegation that, after leaving the intersection, Frentescu chose to return while emergency aid was underway and threatened the person providing it. Frentescu testified that he did not remember speaking with Sanders at the scene.
Frentescu had been in custody since the investigation began in October 2024 and was formally indicted on capital murder later that year. His wife, Alyssa Marleen Sevilla, also was arrested during the investigation on allegations related to the case but had not been indicted as of reporting around the trial. She was listed as a possible defense witness but invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Those matters did not change the punishment facing Frentescu once jurors convicted him: because the state had declined to seek the death penalty, Texas law required a life term without parole for the capital murder verdict.
The sentence now leaves the courtroom testimony as the public record of how a roadside confrontation was reconstructed nearly two years after it happened. Jurors ultimately rejected Frentescu’s claim that the killings were justified self-defense. As of Sept. 22, no subsequent public report located in a search of the case indicated that his capital murder conviction or life-without-parole sentence had been overturned.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 22, 2026.