Menard County Man Sentenced to 65 years for Shooting at Officers

MENARD, TX — A 50-year-old Menard County man was sentenced to 65 years in prison Tuesday for shooting at law enforcement officers with a rifle during a high-speed chase that began after he assaulted his spouse. 

Mark Hamilton Minyard received the maximum sentence on four felony counts following a bench trial. Visiting Judge Stephen Ellis of Brownwood presided. District Attorney Tonya Spaeth Ahlschwede of the 452nd District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. 

The charges stemmed from an April 23, 2025, incident on U.S. Highway 190 west of Menard. According to court records, Minyard physically assaulted his spouse, fled from officers and stopped his vehicle in a highway bar ditch. He then fired an Armalite M15 multi-caliber rifle equipped with a Rudolph scope at officers, including Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Warden John Compton and Menard County Sheriff Burl Hagler. Minyard was wounded in the shootout; no officers were injured. 

Minyard previously admitted guilt in open court to:

• Aggravated assault against a public servant with a deadly weapon, an enhanced first-degree felony;
• Unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, a third-degree felony;
• Evading arrest with a vehicle, enhanced to a second-degree felony; and
• Assault on a family member impeding breathing or circulation, enhanced to a second-degree felony.

The enhancements were based on Minyard’s 2012 felony conviction for evading arrest with a vehicle in McClennan County. That prior conviction raised the minimum sentence for the first-degree charge to 15 years. 

Judge Ellis sentenced Minyard to 65 years for the aggravated assault against a public servant and 35 years for each of the other three offenses. All sentences will run concurrently in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division. 

During the punishment phase, prosecutors presented evidence, multiple witnesses and uncontroverted testimony. Sheriff Hagler and Game Warden Compton were key witnesses. 

After the sentencing, Ahlschwede said: “My office will always prosecute people who threaten our men and women in law enforcement. We ask these people to put on a badge every day and work hard to keep our families safe. Assaulting public servants will never be tolerated. And assaulting one’s own spouse will never be tolerated.”

She thanked law enforcement officers for their dedication to serving and protecting the community. The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office, a partnering agency, praised the prosecution’s outcome.