HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (TCD) — A 29-year-old man will spend 23 years in prison for the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in 2016.
According to a news release from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Austin Hoff, an auto mechanic in the Austin area, asked his girlfriend to move in with him. She reportedly caught Hoff cheating, so the two broke up, and she moved back to Spring.
The District Attorney’s Office said, “Hoff eventually started harassing and stalking her.”
On Sept. 5, 2016, Hoff drove to and parked outside his ex-girlfriend’s home, where he waited for three hours for her return.
When Hoff’s ex-girlfriend came home, she was reportedly with a new boyfriend, Steven Senter. When they tried to go inside the home, Hoff forced his way in, and Senter pushed him away.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Hoff and Senter struggled before Hoff took out a gun and shot Senter in the chest. Hoff reportedly stripped off his shirt and drove back toward Austin.
The District Attorney’s Office said Hoff’s father called him and convinced him to drive back to Spring, and when he returned, officials with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office located his shirt and the gun inside his vehicle. The two items were reportedly covered in blood.
On Tuesday, Feb. 28, Hoff was convicted, and he was sentenced to 23 years in prison, which was a “tribute to the age of Senter” when he was fatally shot. According to the District Attorney’s Office, Hoff will be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said, “Cases like this are why we take stalking and intimate-partner violence so seriously.”
Ogg continued, “This man decided to lie in wait for three hours for his ex-girlfriend to arrive at her own house. When she arrived with her new boyfriend, he attempted to force himself into the home, ultimately shooting and killing the new boyfriend.”
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