A Houston County man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the May 2024 murder of his neighbor, the Texas Attorney General's office announced.
Robert Lee Steveson, 66, was found guilty on August 7, 2026, following a week-long trial for capital murder. On May 21, 2024, Steveson broke into the Crockett home of Herbert "Andy" Allen and attacked him, striking him in the head more than 18 times.
The murder weapon, described by the medical examiner as a heavy object with a sharp edge, was never recovered. Witnesses testified that Allen was known to carry large sums of money in a blue bank bag. When police discovered Allen's body, the bank bag and cash were missing.
A few weeks after the murder, police received a tip that Steveson had been seen with large sums of cash shortly after the killing. During a subsequent search of Steveson's home, investigators found a partially burned blue bank bag in an outdoor burn barrel containing charred documents believed to belong to Allen. The cash was never recovered.
349th Judicial District Judge Mark Calhoon imposed the sentence. Steveson had been on parole for a 1979 murder and multiple sexual assaults at the time of Allen's death.