Jer Auntey Pleasant, a 25-year-old San Antonio man, has been sentenced to four concurrent 50-year prison terms — totaling 200 years — for the murders of 54-year-old Larry Wilson and 22-year-old Joseph West, whom he met through the gay dating app Grindr, as well as for shooting a third victim during an attempted robbery and sexually assaulting a minor.
The sentences were imposed by Judge Kristina Escalona of Texas’ 186th District Court.
According to prosecutors, Pleasant first used the Grindr app to meet a victim in March 2022. When the two met, Pleasant allegedly shot the victim during a robbery attempt. In July of that year, he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old, with DNA evidence identifying him as the perpetrator, the district attorney’s office said.
On April 14, 2023, Pleasant allegedly chatted with Wilson on Grindr and arranged to meet at the Banyan Tree Apartments in San Antonio, as reported by San Antonio NBC and CW affiliate WOAI. Police arrived at the complex and found Wilson in the driver’s seat of a white Ford Expedition. He had been shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told investigators they saw a man wearing a red hoodie standing on the passenger side of the SUV, firing several shots before grabbing a black duffel bag from the vehicle and running away.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, investigators later accessed Wilson’s phone with the help of his family and discovered messages between Wilson and a Grindr user with the handle “Derek.” Police later identified Pleasant as the person behind that account.
The following day, April 15, 2023, a friend of Joseph West asked police to perform a wellness check after being unable to reach him. Officers arrived at West’s apartment and found the 22-year-old dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators said fingerprints matching Pleasant were found at both crime scenes, and ballistics testing confirmed the same firearm was used in the two murders. According to Law & Crime, one piece of forensic evidence recovered from both scenes was Pleasant’s fingerprint on condom wrappers.
Investigators later connected the cases and pursued charges against Pleasant. After years of court proceedings, including mental health evaluations and multiple trial delays, Pleasant pleaded no contest on March 6, 2026, to all four charges against him.
A no-contest plea allows a defendant to accept conviction and punishment without formally admitting guilt. Because of that, Pleasant’s conviction cannot automatically be used as an admission of liability if the victims’ families pursue civil lawsuits.
In a statement, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales praised law enforcement and prosecutors for securing the conviction, calling it a measure of accountability in the case.
“While today’s outcome will never restore the lives that were lost, it represents a step toward justice for the victims and their loved ones,” Gonzales said.
A 21-year-old man from Marseille, France, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2023 murder of a 70-year-old gay man.
The 70-year-old victim met the defendant on Coco.fr, an online chat site that required no registration and allowed users to remain anonymous. French authorities shut the site down in June 2024, alleging it had facilitated crimes including prostitution, sexual offenses, and even murder.
According to prosecutors, after meeting through the site, the then-18-year-old defendant went to the victim's home in Marseille and offered sex in exchange for money.
Daniel McGee, a 26-year-old from Springfield, Oregon, has been sentenced to 151 months, or just over 12-and-a-half years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a federal hate crime for attempting to kill a man he met through the LGBTQ dating app Grindr.
After serving his prison sentence, McGee will be required to complete five years of supervised release. He must also pay a $100 assessment and $943.95 in restitution to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Account, according to court documents.
Grindr will disable its location feature and roll out additional privacy protections for users staying at the Olympic Village during the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
The company announced the stepped-up security measures on its blog, saying the changes are intended to protect LGBTQ athletes -- particularly those from countries where homosexuality is criminalized or punishable by death -- from what it described as "real safety risks."
"Grindr shows users who's nearby and how far away they are," the blog post read. "In most contexts, that's useful. In the Olympic Village where thousands of athletes are packed into a small area, those same features may become a liability.
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