A Bell County jury sentenced Raymond Cecil Kastner to life in prison for the 2022 stabbing death of a doctor at a Killeen mosque.

The guilty verdict and the life term are the jury's judgment after a two-week trial. Kastner's lawyers never disputed what the mosque video showed. They argued he did not intend to kill. The jury was allowed to consider only murder, and it chose the top of the punishment range.

On Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, a Bell County jury sentenced Raymond Cecil Kastner, 53, of Killeen, to life in prison, the Killeen Daily Herald reported. The 12 jurors in the 478th Judicial District Court deliberated for about an hour on punishment. The day before, Thursday, Oct. 15, the same jury found Kastner guilty of murder in the death of Muhammad Idrees Kahn, 69, Bell County District Attorney Stephanie Newell told the newspaper. Murder is a first-degree felony in Texas, punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison.

"The jury returned a verdict of life after about an hour of deliberation," said Erica Morgan, criminal division chief at the Bell County District Attorney's Office and one of two prosecutors on the case. "The Bell County District Attorney's Office and the family and friends of Dr. Khan appreciate the careful consideration the jury paid to this case. We thank the jury for delivering justice for Dr. Khan and protecting our community." The Killeen Daily Herald reported that after the verdict, jurors heard testimony from Kahn's wife and son, who attended the whole trial. Kastner also testified in his own defense Thursday afternoon.

Killeen police said Kahn was stabbed on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, at the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, the mosque at 5600 State Highway 195. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:37 p.m. KWTX reported that Kahn helped found the mosque. The Killeen Daily Herald described him as an emergency physician and an Army veteran. According to an arrest affidavit, he suffered 11 stab wounds. Police said at the time that the two men had a business relationship and both attended the mosque. At trial, the defense said Kahn was Kastner's landlord and boss. Kastner was arrested the day of the killing and indicted on Feb. 8, 2023. He has been in custody ever since.

Jurors watched surveillance video from inside and outside the mosque. Morgan told jurors the video shows Kastner stand up, approach Kahn from behind and cut his throat, the Killeen Daily Herald reported. Kahn ran outside and tried to get into a car in the parking lot, and the attack continued there. The video then shows the attacker set a knife on a classroom table, pick up a backpack and walk away. "He stabbed him over and over and over again," Assistant District Attorney Jared Williams said in closing.

Defense attorney Zachary Boyd told jurors, "I'm not going to argue with a video." He argued the case turned on intent. He said Kastner was homeless and at a low point. "He was not a man with a plan; he was a man coming apart," Boyd said. The defense played clips of Kastner's police interview, in which he said he did not remember much and may have blacked out from anger. Boyd also faulted the Killeen Police Department for not forensically testing the knife or the swabs of likely blood. The Killeen Daily Herald reported Kastner had to be restored to competency before the trial could go forward. Judge Wade Faulkner denied a defense request to let jurors consider manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. Earlier in the trial, he suppressed one arresting officer's body-camera footage.

Jury selection was held Monday, Oct. 5, and testimony began Wednesday, Oct. 7. Ten people testified for the state. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. For Kastner, that presumption ended with Thursday's guilty verdict, and Friday's life sentence is the jury's punishment for the murder of Muhammad Idrees Kahn.