Trial gets underway for Ugly Man Cossacks member charged in deaths of father, son
By Tommy Witherspoon KWTX August 10, 2026
https://www.kwtx.com/2026/08/10/trial-gets-underway-ugly-man-cossacks-member-charged-deaths-father-son/
WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Shortly after shooting a father and son in an October 2024 altercation involving rival bikers, Romi Frentescu returned to the scene and told a nurse trying to render aid, “Let him f—ing die,” an eyewitness to the event testified Monday.
Frentescu, 33, a member of the Ugly Man Cossacks motorcycle group, is on trial in Waco’s 19th State District Court on a capital murder charge in the shooting deaths of Michael David Morris, 38, and his 18-year-old son, Braxton Johnson.
Morris, a member of the 1%ers Cossacks group, and Johnson died during a fight with Frentescu at the intersection of Mackey Ranch Road and Old Moody Road in Bruceville-Eddy.
Attorney Russ Hunt Jr., who is representing Frentescu with his father, Russ Hunt, told jurors in opening statements there had been bad blood between Morris and Frentescu for some time and that Morris was the aggressor that day. Frentescu was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed the pair after Morris pulled a switchblade knife on him, Hunt said.
A witness for the prosecution who formerly lived on Old Moody Road near the altercation testified Monday his daughter was playing basketball outside when she screamed that two men on motorcycles were arguing in the roadway.
He went outside and saw the bikers “squaring up” like they were about to have a fist fight, he said. He said he heard someone say, “Let’s do this,” and then saw one of the men pull a gun.
The witness said someone in a pickup truck ran over one of the motorcycles and then he heard four shots ring out. He said he saw the gun but did not see the other man holding a knife.
He said he heard someone scream, “You just murdered two people. You are going to prison,” before a woman drove up in a red pickup and Frentescu got in and rode away.
Frentescu and the woman returned shortly and Frentescu and others started yelling again. He said Frentescu approached a Good Samaritan who was trying to help Morris and who happened to be a nurse, and told her, “Let him f—ing die,” the witness said.
“There was no remorse for what he had done,” the witness further said.
Frentescu’s wife, Alyssa Marleen Sevilla, was arrested in the incident as a party to capital murder and for tampering with evidence. She has not been indicted on those charges.
The witness testified he is a former member of the Boozefighters motorcycle club but was kicked out after the group learned he intended to testify at Frentescu’s tria
Hunt told jurors in opening statements that Frentescu’s group, the Ugly Man Cossacks, are more of a social group, as opposed to the Cossacks 1 %er group, who Hunt described as “hard heads.” The Ugly Man group split from the traditional Cossacks after the deadly 2015 biker shootout at Twin Peaks in Waco between the Bandidos and the Cossacks and their respective support groups.
Hunt said the “hard head” Cossacks group had a “smash on sight order” for members of the splinter group and that Morris had been harassing Frentescu for some time.
On the day of the incident, Morris drove by Frentescu’s home, revved his motorcycle engine and “flipped off” Frentescu, Hunt said. He previously had threatened to burn down Frentescu’s house and kill his dog, Hunt said.
“Romi is a peacemaker,” Hunt said. “He tried to calm the situation down. He tried to mediate the situation but Morris would have nothing to do with that.”
He said he rode his motorcycle after Morris to implore him to leave him alone. They pulled over at the intersection, and Hunt said Frentescu only wanted to talk some sense into Morris. He said Morris pulled a switchblade and Johnson showed up and joined them, he said.
Someone in a blue shirt punched Frentescu in the side of the head, knocking him to his knees. He tried to leave on wobbly legs before he saw the man approaching him again. So he pulled his pistol and fired in self-defense, Hunt said. “Romi was defending himself every minute of that day,” Hunt said.Prosecution testimony will resume Tuesday.
If convicted of capital murder, Frentescu faces a life prison term with no parole because the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office elected not to seek the death penalty.
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