Centerville man to serve life sentence for killing mother of his child, Houston DA says
A Centerville man pleaded guilty Thursday to killing the mother of his child and was sentenced to prison, according to Houston County District Attorney Eric Edwards on Friday.
Dru Eggebrecht, 39, was sentenced to life in prison as a result of his guilty plea, Edwards said. Eggebrecht’s case stems from a domestic incident where he fatally shot his on-again-off-again partner, Amy Avritt, six times in front of a Marathon Gas Station on Wilson Drive on Oct. 9, 2024.
They shared a child.
“This case is a heartbreaking example of how domestic violence can escalate to the most extreme and irreversible outcome,” Edwards said. “A mother lost her life in a public place, and a child will grow up without either parent because of the defendant’s actions.”
Eggebrecht claimed an insanity defense
Eggebrecht was staying with Avritt to “help care with their child during fall break,” according to the news release.
On the day of the incident, both were parked in front of the Marathon Gas Station when Eggebrecht demanded to see the Avritt’s phone.
“The victim told Eggebrecht that if he wanted her phone, Eggebrecht was going to have to kill her for it,” Edwards said in the news release.
As Avritt got out of the car, Eggebrecht shot her once. Eggebrecht then shot her five more times while she stumbled away, according to the news release.
He claimed that he had been using methamphetamine for eight to nine days before the incident and thought someone had hacked her phone, the news release said. Eggebrecht also made apologetic statements to witnesses and law enforcement, claiming that shooting her was wrong.
Eggebrecht wanted to claim insanity at trial due to his history of mental illness and use of methamphetamine before the incident. An insanity defense would require Eggebrecht to prove that he “was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the crime, or was overpowered by a delusion that, if true, would justify the act,” the news release said.
However, Senior Assistant District Attorney Justin Duane, who prosecuted the case, argued that Eggebrecht knew right from wrong. If his actions were based on a delusion, it “was the result of voluntary intoxication, and that even if his delusion was true, it did not justify his use of deadly force,” the news release said.
Eggebrecht eventually withdrew his defense argument and admitted to his role in Avritt’s death.
“The defendant’s decision to withdraw his insanity defense and plead guilty spares the victim’s family from reliving these events at trial, but it does not lessen the gravity of what was done,” Edwards said. “The facts of this case demonstrate a deliberate and sustained use of deadly force that cannot be excused.”
