An individual with a criminal record and affiliation with a gang, who is facing charges for violent crimes in McLennan and Tarrant counties, received a 60-year prison sentence on Friday in Limestone County.
A man named Kevin Eddie Dean Kirven, 38, has pleaded guilty to charges of murder and tampering with evidence – human corpse. The incident involves the shooting death of Willie Rhodes, 55, a convenience store clerk from Mart. Rhodes’ body was discovered in a pond near Mexia, off Limestone County Road 462.
Rhodes was said to be in a precarious situation when he went missing from his job at a Cefco store in Waco.
Kirven was linked to the crime after being spotted driving Rhodes’ car in Coolidge later that day. He had to make an unexpected stop at the Hilltop Apartments in Coolidge after the tire came off his car. Limestone County officials discovered blood on the bumper of a suspicious vehicle and observed Kirven attempting to have the vehicle towed.
Kirven managed to escape from the apartment complex and evaded capture for the time being.
The body of Rhodes was discovered in a pond close to the Mexia landfill, four days after he was reported missing. Authorities discovered the body wrapped in a tarp, indicating an unsuccessful effort to prevent it from resurfacing with the aid of two cinder blocks. This information was shared by Limestone County District Attorney Roy DeFriend and assistant district attorneys Beth Toben and Jeff Janes, who handled the case.
On March 29, 2022, Kirven found himself in a tense situation when warrants were issued for him. He ended up in a shootout with members of the U.S. Marshal’s Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force at a residence in McLennan County. After a tense 90-minute standoff, he was apprehended by authorities.
He is facing several charges of aggravated assault on a public servant and is scheduled to stand trial on February 3, 2025, in Waco’s 19th State District Court.
In addition, there is a pending murder charge against him in Tarrant County, as stated by the Limestone County prosecutors.
Kirven provided testimony in the capital murder trial of his cousin, Zamar Kirven, a former Mart football star who tragically took the lives of two of his closest friends in April 2021.
In June 2023, Kevin Kirven took the stand at his cousin’s trial in Waco’s 54th State District Court and stated that he, not his cousin, was responsible for the deaths of Jacob Ybarra, 20, and Sabion Kubitza, 23, at the residence in Mart.
Zamar Kirven has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in this case.
It is worth acknowledging Kevin Kirven’s three decades of imprisonment before he becomes eligible for parole.
