A news release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office says Alton Currie fired once in a unprovoked shooting in August 2020 that killed James Zikus.
A district court jury convicted Currie last month of murder and threatening retaliation at Bryan police officers.
This is after another jury found Currie guilty of pointing a gun at two BPD officers.
Prosecutors say the life sentence covers all convictions. That’s after the trial judge did not grant the prosecution’s motion to stack the 25 year sentence for aggravated assault of public servants with the life sentence.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
Alton Currie, 62, was sentenced to life in prison on Mon-day, June 16 by Judge Kyle Hawthorne. Currie was convicted of murder on May 15, 2025 by a Brazos County jury. Currie was also convicted of two counts of Retaliation against a police officer by the same jury. Judge Hawthorne sentenced Currie to the maximum of 10 years in prison for each of those counts.
On August 24, 2020, the Bryan Police Department was called to a residence in regards to a shooting that had just taken place. The caller reported that the defendant had shot James Zikus one time for no reason. When officers responded to the scene, the defendant returned to the residence, pointing a gun at two different officers. The defendant was taken into custody at that time and transported to the hospital, where he made more threats against the officers who were with him.
Currie was previously convicted by a Brazos County jury of two counts of Aggravated Assault of a Public Servant in May of 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison on those charges.
During both trials, the jury heard evidence that the defendant and the victim were friends and had been together on the afternoon of the shooting, drinking alcohol and playing dice. At some point, the defendant picked up his gun and shot the victim in the chest unprovoked. He then fled in his truck.
Jurors also heard testimony about a separate incident in which the defendant pointed a gun at another person. A witness testified that shortly before the fatal shooting, a group of friends was sitting around the same table at which the murder occurred when the defend-ant pointed the gun at the witness unprovoked. The gun was removed from the defendant’s hand in that incident.
The sentences will run concurrently for all charges.
Statement from Brazos County assistant district attorneys Kara Comte and Gretchen Helmuth: “The defendant chose to murder someone for no reason and then threaten the lives of police officers in an attempt to flee the scene. The only appropriate resolution in this case is spending the rest of his life in prison.”