JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas — A Jefferson County man has been sentenced to decades in state prison after pleading guilty to a series of violent and deadly crimes, including murder, aggravated assault, child endangerment, and drug distribution that led to two fatal fentanyl overdoses.
District Attorney Keith Giblin announced that 42-year-old Howard Dontay Celestine entered guilty pleas to multiple felony offenses, and was sentenced by Judge Raquel West to 50 years for murder and aggravated assault, 20 years for drug distribution, and 2 years for assaulting a child. The sentences will run concurrently.
The case began on June 24, 2024, when Beaumont police responded to the Stone Hearst Apartments on East Lucas and found 62-year-old Lizzie Odom stabbed to death inside her apartment. Investigators later learned that her vehicle had been used in another violent crime.
Shortly after the murder, Celestine reportedly drove Odom’s car to the Skyview area of Amelia, where he rammed it into the home of his ex-girlfriend. Police say he then forced his way inside, attempted to stab her, and assaulted her 2-year-old son. The woman managed to fight him off, and Celestine fled. The vehicle later broke down, and he was apprehended after a brief encounter with officers, during which he had to be tased due to noncompliance.
Further investigation linked Celestine to Odom’s murder. Officers also uncovered his criminal past, including theft, battery in Georgia, and a conviction for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. At the time of Odom’s killing, Celestine was out on bond for a drug distribution case tied to the fentanyl overdose deaths of 25-year-old Matthew Kreiss and 38-year-old Aaron Sanchez earlier that year.
Authorities say Celestine arranged the deal in which both men unknowingly consumed counterfeit Percocet pills laced with fentanyl. A pathologist confirmed the cause of death for both victims was fentanyl toxicity.
Prosecutor Tommy L. Coleman, who handled the case, stated: “Jefferson County is undoubtedly a safer place with this defendant in prison. There are three deaths linked to this very dangerous individual, and it very well could have been four if his ex-girlfriend had not fought for her life.”
Under the terms of his sentence, Celestine will be eligible for parole after serving half of the murder and assault terms.
District Attorney Keith F. Giblin emphasized the office’s firm stance on drug-related deaths: “Anyone who chooses to sell or provide illegal drugs in our community—we will hunt you down and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
