The Bexar County case ends with no parole, no trial and no appeal after the 2023 killing of 11-month-old Willow Gardner.
SAN ANTONIO — Stephen Clare pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the killing of his 11-month-old daughter, a resolution that ended a death penalty case tied to a 2023 attack on his ex-wife and their two young daughters.
Clare, 53, admitted guilt to capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Bexar County court. Prosecutors said the agreement guarantees he will remain in prison for life and gives up his ability to appeal. The plea brought a swift close to one of the region’s most closely watched family violence cases, a prosecution shaped by brutal facts, survivor testimony and the death of a baby girl whose mother later turned her grief into public advocacy.
The attack happened on April 10, 2023 at a home on Robinhood Place near Alamo Heights, according to local reporting and court accounts summarized by prosecutors. Investigators said Clare confronted Mariah Gardner, his former wife, during an argument involving a gun. What followed, authorities said, was captured in part by surveillance video from the home. Gardner later said Clare chased her before shooting her, then turned his attention to the children inside. Their daughters, Rosalie and Willow, were stabbed. Willow died from her wounds. Rosalie survived, though the charge tied to her injuries was attempted capital murder of a child under 10. Gardner also survived despite severe injuries. Two older boys in the home escaped and ran to a nearby house for help, according to prior reports. The violence happened only months after the divorce, giving the case an added layer of scrutiny because it followed a custody dispute and earlier concerns Gardner had raised about Clare’s behavior.
The courtroom hearing on Feb. 27, 2026 moved with little uncertainty once the plea deal was announced. Judge Joel Perez read the agreement in the 437th Criminal District Court, and Clare formally pleaded guilty to all three charges. Reporters in the courtroom said he wore a red jumpsuit and kept his eyes open but his head down for much of the hearing. Then the focus shifted to the family. Gardner delivered a victim statement that became the emotional center of the day. She told the court Clare shot her through the face and left her to die, and she described crawling, bleeding, onto a sidewalk in the hope that her children might be saved. Later, outside court, Gardner said hearing Clare finally admit guilt was both surreal and painful. She said the outcome would not undo the harm but would allow the family to move forward without the shadow of a trial.
That avoided trial matters because prosecutors had previously signaled they would seek the death penalty. Earlier local coverage described the case as a rare modern Bexar County capital prosecution where execution was a real possibility. With the plea, that path ended. So did the chance for a full public trial record built through witness testimony and cross-examination. Some facts remain rooted in charging documents, survivor accounts and media reporting rather than a jury’s findings after trial. But the main points are no longer disputed in criminal court: Willow was killed, Rosalie and Gardner survived, and Clare accepted responsibility through guilty pleas. The case also stayed in public view because Gardner spoke openly after the attack about abuse, fear and what she believed family court missed before the violence. Her account turned the case into more than a sentencing story for many followers in Texas; it became part of a wider conversation about how warning signs are handled before a crime becomes irreversible.
The sentence itself leaves little room for further courtroom drama. Clare received life without parole for Willow’s killing, plus additional life terms for the attack on Rosalie and for the shooting of Gardner. Prosecutors said the plea agreement includes no opportunity for appeal, a provision they framed as protection against future attempts to reopen the case. First Assistant District Attorney Tamara Strauch said the state had achieved a measure of justice, while District Attorney Joe Gonzales said Clare had been fully held accountable. The plea also spared the survivors from testifying through a lengthy capital trial and spared the court system from a penalty phase centered on whether Clare should live or die. No future hearing date was announced for any disputed issue because the core criminal case is over. From this point, the matter moves into standard prison intake and sentence service, not contested litigation.
Outside the legal language, the hearing turned again and again to Willow’s name. Gardner said the family is living for Willow and walking for Willow, a line that framed the baby not only as the victim at the center of the charges but as the reason the family kept pressing for an outcome. That gave the hearing a tone very different from routine plea proceedings. It also showed how the public memory of the case is likely to endure: not just as a docket with three convictions, but as a family’s effort to put a final court ruling around a devastating act inside a home. Clare’s admission of guilt settled the state’s case. It did not settle the loss that brought everyone there.
For now, the legal fight is over, and the next chapter belongs to the survivors as Clare begins serving life sentences that ensure he will never leave prison.
Author note: Last updated March 26, 2026.