Family 'happy' with Texas man's death sentence in triple murder of 4-year-old, parents: 'This is for baby Ray'

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A Texas man's death sentence in a brutal triple murder that claimed a four-year-old child among the victims was met with approval by surviving family members. 

"Oh, we're happy," Frances Rivera, the mother of 24-year-old Maya Rivera, who was murdered along with 28-year-old Ray Shawn Hudson Sr. and their four-year-old son, Ray Shawn Hudson Jr., in 2018, told Fox 26 Houston this week.

"This is for baby Ray. All of this is for baby Ray."

It only took five hours for a jury to convict the suspect in the murders, 40-year-old Robert Allen Satterfield, of capital murder, and another 45 minutes to conclude that he deserved the death sentence.

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Robert Allen Satterfield was sentenced to death for the 2018 murder of a family of three. (Fox 26 Houston)

"He won't be able to touch his children, or hug his children the way we're not able to hug and touch our children," Rivera said. "He won't be able to do that either. If he stays on death row five years, 10 years, or 30 years from now, we know he's not going to be able to enjoy life."

Satterfield murdered the family and burned their bodies in a pit. He was taken in by authorities days later after being pulled over while driving the car he had stolen from them.

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The Rivera family told Fox 26 Houston they are happy that the man who murdered their family members was sentenced to death (Fox 26 Houston)

"They were put in a pit like trash. It was very heartbreaking to see the actual burn pit and what they had to go through," Rivera said. "Baby Ray saw his mother being shot. The only reason he killed baby Ray was because he could identify him."

 Wharton County District Attorney Dawn Allison told Fox 26 Houston that Satterfield was a habitual offender with gang affiliations who showed no remorse for the crime and showed signs of paranoia. 

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The Rivera family reacting to news that the man who killed their family members was sentenced to death (Fox 26 Houston)

"He felt like he was being disrespected by them. It could have been robbery, it could have been over the sake of a gun," Allison said.