A Houston man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for robbing and killing a recent graduate of Lone Star College who owned his own business repairing cellphones, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This is a heartbreaking case because the victim was a young man who had so much potential and so much of his life still ahead of him,” Ogg said. “No one should have to fear being robbed and killed as they try to build a business and live a productive life.”

Jarell Carelone Barrows, 22, was convicted of capital murder on Thursday for shooting 22-year-old Emmanuel Browne during a daytime robbery around 1:10 p.m. on April 29, 2021.

On the day of the murder, Barrows and another man, James Duplechain, contacted the victim to come to an apartment complex in Houston’s South Side neighborhood to fix a phone.

Browne, whose parents are from Liberia, was brought to America when he was a 10-year-old. As a teenager, he broke his phone and taught himself how to fix it. He used that knowledge to build a business by offering mobile repairs. To try to stay safe, Browne worked in his car instead of going into the homes of strangers.

When he met up with Barrows and Duplechain, surveillance video shows that Browne was in the driver’s seat of his car with his window down trying to fix one of their phones. Barrows and Duplechain were standing outside the car, and Barrows pulled a gun and put it to Browne’s head. Barrows then opened the driver’s-side door, keeping the gun to Browne’s head.

Barrows also tried to open a backseat door where Browne kept repair supplies. That door was locked, and the victim tried right then to shut his door, which is when Barrows shot him the first time.

Barrows then reached into the car through the open door to take a cellphone from the driver’s-side footwell. He then shot Browne again before running away.

Wounded by the two shots, Browne tried to drive away. He crashed into a nearby apartment building in the 3300 block of Yellowstone where he died.

Investigators with the Houston Police Department released photos of the suspects from the surveillance video, leading to the arrest of Barrows and Duplechain. Duplechain pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Barrows, the triggerman, was convicted of capital murder after a seven-day trial and automatically sentenced to life without parole. He was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Casey Smith, a chief in the Homicide Division of the DA’s Office, and Katlin Robinson, a chief in the trial bureau.

“You can see in the video that the victim holds up his hands to show that he is empty-handed before he was shot the first time — the second shot was a kill shot,” Smith said. “It’s really sad because he was completely innocent, had just graduated college and was planning on getting more education. His family came to court every day of trial to see that justice was done.”

Barrows will never be eligible for parole.

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