One of the suspects pleads guilty in 2019 death of aspiring local rapper, sentenced to 30 years

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Justice Allen Stanford, 26, pleaded guilty to murder in the April 2019 shooting death of Preston Scott, 29, who rapped under the name of PJ OneEight, and has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Casey Wade Hughes, 23, and Justice Allen Stanford, 26, who were originally charged with murder in the April 2019 shooting death of Preston Scott, 29, who rapped under the name of PJ OneEight, were named in new indictments in 2020 charging capital murder, for which the punishment is either life in prison without parole or death.

Officers who responded to the shooting at around 10:45 p.m. on April 1, 2019 at the intersection of Dallas Street and Carver Avenue found Scott lying in the street.

He had been shot in the back.

He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The two were arrested on April 17, 2019 at a gas station in Arkansas.

According to a police report, an officer in Clinton, Ark., was fueling his patrol unit around 10 p.m. on April 17, 2019 next to the SUV in which Hughes and Stanford were riding when he spotted Hughes, who appeared to be nervous as he got out of the passenger seat.

The officer ran a check of the SUV’s license plate and determined the vehicle was stolen.

A further check revealed the two men were wanted in connection with the deadly shooting.

The two remain in the McLennan County Jail where they’ve been held since May 15, 2019.

Hughes is held in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Stanford is held in lieu of bonds totaling $525,000.

He’s also named in unrelated complaints charging unauthorized use of a vehicle, theft, and faces a manslaughter charge out of Freestone County according to online records.