A 36-year-old man in Texas will spend the remainder of his days behind bars for killing his pregnant wife and their unborn child, shooting the 37-year-old woman as the couple's two young children watched in horror one day before Father's Day.

Bexar County Criminal District Judge Jennifer Pena sentenced Dillon Leigh Meckel on Wednesday to life without parole for the 2021 slaying of Laura Placker, court records show. Placker was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.

Before sentencing, Meckel pleaded no contest to one count of capital murder involving multiple persons. The judge credited Meckel with 1,403 days of time already served.

In the indictment, prosecutors said that Meckel "intentionally and knowingly caused the death of [Placker] by shooting her with a deadly weapon." Be

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