TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video aired in September 2023.
The Smith County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday it will seek the death penalty for a 20-year-old man accused of violently killing a young Tyler woman in September 2023.
Jamaurea Jermaine Britton, of Tyler, is charged with capital murder in the death of 18-year-old Dejah Hood. Documents show he admitted to beating Hood with a hammer, strangling and stabbing her before throwing her body into ravine behind the Hollytree Apartments in Tyler.
During a pre-trial hearing Thursday in the 114th District Court, the prosecution announced the DA's office filed a notice to seek the death sentence for Britton.
The next hearing in the case was set for Jan. 9.
He was originally arrested for murder last year, but his charge was later upgraded to capital murder.
If a person is found guilty of capital murder, they face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
An arrest affidavit states Britton told police he went into a "fit of rage" after Dejah playfully tugged his ear, reminding him of his ex-girlfriend.
The affidavit said he confessed to smashing her head with a wine bottle, choking her and hitting her with a hammer, until the handle broke off. Evidence included footprints leading to her body, which was found wrapped up in a sheet in the creek behind the complex.
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