SAN ANTONIO (Court TV) — A Texas judge threw a defendant’s own words back at him, telling him to “go big or go home” in deciding whether to accept a plea agreement for killing his wife.
Charles Byrd pleaded no contest to his wife’s murder on Sept. 15, 2026. (KSAT)
Charles Byrd, 50, appeared in court on Tuesday to plead no contest to murdering his wife, Angela Byrd. Investigators found Angela Byrd’s decomposing body, wrapped in plastic, in the couple’s home in July 2025. The defendant never denied killing the victim, saying that he had acted in a jealous rage.
After his arrest, Byrd told investigators he had never committed a crime before his wife’s murder, saying, “Go big or go home.”
If he had been convicted at trial, Charles Byrd would have faced a potential sentence of five to 99 years; under the plea agreement, he would serve 35 years in prison. Judge Benjamin Robertson questioned prosecutors about whether the family approved of the deal; the prosecutor said that while the victim’s mother initially wanted a longer sentence, she appreciated the certainty and closure that a plea deal offered.
But video from KSAT revealed Robertson became hesitant to accept the agreement after seeing that the defendant maintained his right to appeal. “This is where I am: if he wants to waive his right to appeal, then I suppose I can stomach 35 years. But if he doesn’t, he doesn’t have the obligation to do that, then some people say, ‘Go big or go home,'” Robertson said, reprising the defendant’s own statement after his arrest. “We’ll see whether he goes home or whether the jury will go big. That’s where I am. So, what do we want to do?”
When Charles Byrd’s defense team pushed back, Robertson said he wouldn’t budge. “If there is no closure, I will not accept it,” he said. “I don’t think 35 years is enough. I know that the Bexar County way is 35 and 40 regularly handed out for murders. I’m not happy with the Bexar County way and I don’t know that our community is happy with the Bexar County way.”
After briefly conferring with his attorneys, Charles Byrd confirmed that he wanted to move forward with the plea and would waive his right to appeal.
Robertson immediately sentenced him to 35 years with credit for more than 400 days’ time served.
“You are an evil person,” Angela Byrd’s mother said in a victim impact statement on Tuesday. “I hope every day that you have to think about leaving your ill mother alone away from her only child. Your children alone with no parent.”
