Jury Convicts Man Who Shot Lesbian Couple

David Strickland, 29, the man who shot and killed Mollie Olgin and left her girlfriend, Kristene Chapa, in critical condition in 2012, has been found guilty of capital murder and aggravated sexual assault. Strickland will serve a life sentence.

"I was very shocked at first. I didn't know what to expect exactly, I was hoping that [the jury] would see all the evidence that we had and they would go our way. [It was] very emotional. I wanted to just burst out in tears," Chapa told KRIS, a Corpus Christi, Texas, TV station.

"She was only 19. She didn't get to live her life. He took that away from her," Olgin's sister, Megan Olgin, told KRIS. "I'm just happy that it's finally over. The jury saw the evidence and now finally there's justice. It doesn't bring her back. But at least he can pay for what he did."

In 2012, the women were spending an evening in a park in Portland, Texas, when Strickland, who had his face covered, approached them. Strickland asked Chapa to put duct tape over Olgin's eyes, and then had Olgin do the same to Chapa. Once their eyes were covered, the 29-year-old sexually assaulted both of them, and then shot them in the head. Strickland left them, and they were found nine hours later by a couple out on a birdwatching walk.

Olgin, 19 at the time, was pronounced dead, while Chapa, 18, was taken to the hospital and placed in intensive care because of sustained traumatic brain injuries. For a time Chapa could not move the left side of her body, sit, or stand, but she has regained those abilities in the past two years, and she continues to undergo physical rehabilitation, noted GLAAD.

Chapa started college last fall and is working on a book about the attack.