Is Eddie Ray Routh Still Alive? What Happened to Him?

Who is  Eddie Ray Routh?

Eddie Ray Routh was born on September 30, 1987, in Lancaster, Texas, United States, to Raymond Ray Routh Sr. and Jodi Routh. He grew up with his sister, Laura Bess Routh, and after completing high school, he joined the Marine Corps. In 2007, he was deployed to a base near Baghdad, where he worked as a prison guard and also repaired weapons. Later, he participated in a humanitarian mission in Haiti. After serving for seven years, Routh was discharged from the Marine Corps in July 2011.

On February 2, 2013, the murder of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield occurred at a shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas. Kyle, a former Navy SEAL, and his friend Littlefield were shot by Routh, who was 25 years old at the time and had experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. The incident garnered national attention due to Kyle’s celebrity status as the author of the bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, published in 2012.

Eddie Ray Routh suffered from PTSD after his discharge from the Marine Corps in 2011. He was first deployed to Iraq in 2007 and later served on the USS Bataan for seven months in the Middle East. Routh then spent four months in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, where he was disturbed by the task of recovering and burying hundreds of bodies.

Upon returning home, Routh found it challenging to adjust to civilian life and struggled with mental health issues and employment. He was diagnosed with PTSD two years before the 2013 murders, during a hospitalization at the Dallas Veterans Administration hospital. Routh was prescribed powerful medication for his condition, but he was also self-medicating with marijuana and alcohol, contributing to his severe depressive illness.

After a period of delusional episodes and hospitalizations, Routh seemed to be improving and moved in with his girlfriend, Jennifer Weed. However, during an episode, he took Weed and her roommate hostage with a knife, leading to his readmission to the Veterans hospital.

Despite being diagnosed with PTSD and prescribed antipsychotic and anti-anxiety drugs, Routh refused treatment at the inpatient facility and stopped taking medications after being discharged. This information is according to Tuko News.

Is Eddie Ray Routh Still Alive?

Yes,  Eddie Ray is still alive. Routh was found guilty of the murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is currently serving his sentence at the Ramsey I Unit in Anderson County, Texas, not at the Louis C. Powledge Unit.

The Louis C. Powledge Unit is a men’s prison located in Anderson County, Texas. It has been operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice since its opening in July 1982. According to prisoninsight.com, it can accommodate up to 816 people in the main unit and 321 in the Trusty Camp. Notable inmates held there have included Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who was convicted of aggravated crimes.

Other former inmates include Texas rapper Carlos Coy, who was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and Royce Zeigler, who was convicted of the murder of two-year-old girl Riley Ann Sawyers. The prison has also housed Terry Hornbuckle, a former pastor in an Arlington, TX church who was convicted of crimes against females in his congregation.

Eddie Ray Routh was found guilty by a jury of his peers for the murder of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury determined that Routh’s actions were not justified and that he was responsible for the deaths of Kyle and Littlefield. Therefore, according to the law, he deserves to be in jail for the crimes he committed.

What Happened to Eddie Ray Routh?

On February 2, 2013, the world was shocked by a shooting incident near Chalk Mountain, Texas. The perpetrator was none other than Eddie Ray Routh, who took the life of Chris Kyle. Kyle, a retired military veteran, was well-known for helping other veterans cope with mental health issues.

On the day of the tragic event, Eddie’s mother sought Kyle’s assistance in dealing with her troubled son. Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, invited Eddie to accompany them to a remote shooting range at the Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, located southwest of Dallas.

They brought along an arsenal of weapons and ammunition. However, upon arriving at the range, Routh turned on them and opened fire, leaving Kyle and Littlefield with no opportunity to defend themselves. Littlefield was hit seven times in various parts of his body, while Kyle was struck six times. After the shooting, Routh drove Kyle’s pickup truck back to his home in Lancaster, Texas.

At the time of the incident, Routh was under extreme mental stress and believed that Kyle and Littlefield were planning to kill him, as they allegedly ignored him during the drive to the shooting range. Routh later confessed to shooting Kyle and his friend a total of 13 times.

When the case went to court, Routh’s defense attorneys entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. However, the psychologists who testified in court stated that Routh was not legally insane but suffered from a paranoid disorder exacerbated by his abuse of alcohol and cannabis.

Why Did Eddie Ray Routh Kill Kyle?

Eddie Ray Routh killed Chris Kyle because of his severe mental health issues. Routh was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving in the military, and he was also abusing drugs and alcohol. On the day of the shooting, Routh’s mother had asked Kyle to help her troubled son, and they went to a shooting range together.

However, Routh turned on Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield, shooting them multiple times and killing them. Routh claimed that he believed they were going to kill him, but this was later determined to be a result of his paranoid disorder, worsened by his drug and alcohol abuse.

Following her husband’s murder by Eddie Routh in 2013, Taya Kyle has been working as a contributor for Fox News and resides in Texas. She has been speaking on topics related to her late husband’s military service in the U.S. Navy and the challenges faced by veterans.

Taya has become an advocate for widows and families who have lost loved ones in service. She wrote a book about her experience titled “American Wife: A Memoir of Love, Service, Faith, and Renewal” which talks about how she coped with Chris’ death. The couple had two children together, Colton Kyle and McKenna Kyle.

Eddie Ray Routh Trial

On February 2, 2013, Eddie Ray Routh was arraigned on two counts of capital murder and was held in the Erath County Jail on a $3 million bond. His trial was initially scheduled to begin on May 5, 2014, but it was postponed to allow for additional DNA testing.

The trial finally commenced on February 11, 2015. Routh’s defense team claimed that he was insane at the time of the murders, but prosecution witness Randall Price, a forensic psychologist, suspected that Routh was feigning schizophrenia and instead suffered from a paranoid personality disorder exacerbated by substance abuse.

Dr. Michael Arambula, another expert witness, also stated that he did not believe Routh was insane during the killings but was intoxicated. On February 24, 2015, Routh was found guilty of murdering Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. The jury took less than three hours to deliberate and returned a guilty verdict.

The trial judge, Jason Cashon, immediately sentenced Routh to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Routh is currently incarcerated at the Ramsey Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Brazoria County, Texas.

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