Texas security guard sentenced to life for killing 2 women, shackling, hog-tying at least one

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (TCD) -- A 51-year-old former security guard pleaded guilty to killing two women and has been sentenced to life in prison.

According to a news release from the Harris County District Attorney's Office, in 2002, Steven Hobbs fatally beat and strangled Patricia Pyatt. He then dumped her body in the San Jacinto River. Nearly eight years later, in 2010, Hobbs hog-tied Sara Sanford's arms and legs and shot her in the head, the District Attorney's Office says.

In 2011, Hobbs was arrested and booked into Harris County Jail.

According to KPRC-TV, as many as six women said they had been attacked by Hobbs, many of whom were expected to testify as witnesses during the trial.

On Monday, May 2, the District Attorney's Office announced that Hobbs pleaded guilty and will get credit for the 10 years he has already been in jail. Hobbs will serve 20 more years for Pyatt's murder and 30 for Sanford's. He'll be eligible for parole when he is 101 years old.

Before Hobbs' arrest, prosecutors said he applied for a job with a police department.

In a statement, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said, "This defendant terrified and brutalized the women he attacked, but now families will be spared enduring a trial and he will be locked away until he is nearly 100 years old."

Ogg added, "He avoided being sent from county jail to state prison as long as he could, but with this sentence justice has been served and Steven Hobbs will never again set foot in Harris County."

Prosecutor Jennifer Meriwether said, "This is finally closure for all the families and the victims. I think that’s important so that we can move our resources on to other cases and keep working to remove the case backlog. But most of all, this is for the victims."

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