TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Name:  Cotton, Marcus B.

TDCJ Number:  999252

Date of Birth:  9/28/74

Date Received:  2/4/98

Age (when Received):  23

Education Level (Highest Grade Completed):  9 years

Date of Offense:  9/18/96

Age (at the time of Offense):  22

County:  Harris

Race:  Black

Gender:  Male

Hair Color:  Black

Height (in Feet and Inches):  5′ 6″

Weight (in Pounds):  147

Eye Color:  Brown

Native County:  Harris

Native State:  Texas

Prior Occupation:  Laborer

Prior Prison Record:  Convicted on two counts of possession of a controlled substance on 1/21/92 and sentenced to four years in prison. Held in the Harris County Jail and released from the jail on 4/4/92 under paroled in absentia provisions. TDCJ #651521, received 11/24/93, Harris County, 6 years, attempted murder, released under mandatory supervision to Harris Co. on 2/26/96

Summary of Incident:  Convicted in the September 1996 shooting death of a white male Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorney outside the Jewish Community Center in Houston. Cotton and accomplice Lawrence Watson, both armed with pistols, were riding bicycles through the community center parking lot when Watson spotted another male exiting his vehicle. Watson approached this male, put a .38-caliber pistol to his head, and robbed him of his cash. Meanwhile, Cotton saw the Assistant District Attorney outside the center and demanded money from him after pulling a 380 semi-automatic pistol. The victim told Cotton he had no money but that he had valuables in his car. As Cotton put him in the back seat of his Mustang, the other robbery victim, who had gone driving around to the front of the community center to call police, again drove into the parking lot and began blowing his car horn and blinking his lights in an effort to ward off the robbers. Cotton reportedly ordered Watson to shoot the man in the car blowing his horn and then fired two shots into the Assistant District Attorney's head. As the robbers attempted to flee on their bicycles, the man in the other vehicle gave chase in his car and struck Cotton, who with Watson managed to escape on foot by jumping a fence. Following his arrest, Watson implicated Cotton, telling police that Cotton killed the Assistant District Attorney because he had seen the gold badge the victim carried with him as a member of the district attorney’s office. The badge was found lying at the victim’s feet inside the car. Witnesses also told police that Cotton later bragged about “shooting the law” after seeing the badge.

Co-Defendants:  Lawrence Edward Watson

Race and Gender of Victim:  White male