Criminal District Attorney Keith Giblin announced that Donald Ray Taylor, 36, was found guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to fifty years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice by a jury in the Jefferson County Drug Impact Court, June 6.
According to law enforcement officials, officers with the Port Arthur Police Department responded to a location on 19th Street in Port Arthur regarding a shooting victim, March 7, 2024 at about 5:00 a.m. Officers located the victim at a residence injured from a single gunshot wound to her right leg.
The victim told the police that her boyfriend, Donald Ray Taylor, was driving her to work in her car and told her to get out. When she refused, he pulled out a handgun and shot her in the leg. The victim got out of the car and ran to a residence to report the incident. Taylor fled the scene. Officers learned there was an active protection order against Taylor still in effect at the time of the incident.
A check of Taylor’s criminal record revealed an extensive history in the criminal justice system. Taylor had a number of felony convictions as well as misdemeanor family violence assault convictions. Taylor plead no contest to three assault-family violence charges on March 17, 2025, in which the victim was of the same dating relationship as in the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon conviction on June 6, 2025.
The three incidents of assault-family violence occurred on Feb. 7, 15, and 23 of 2024, with the last incident occurring only 12 days before Taylor shot the victim, according to a news release.
Due to his use of a deadly weapon and his habitual status, he must serve no less than 25 years before he will be considered for parole.
This case was investigated by Officer Christian Villasana of the Port Arthur Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant Criminal District Attorney Erica Porter of the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.