A Houston man, who fatally shot a 24-year-old at a Copperfield-area apartment complex in 2020, was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison for murder, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“Gun violence is out of control in Harris County because of cases like this in which someone thinks a handgun gives them a right to steal, maim and kill,” Ogg said. “The victim in this case had a loving family and a bright future, and all of that was taken away from him.”

Darius Handsborough, 29, agreed on Monday to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of murder earlier this month by a Harris County jury for the death of Devonte Antrel Purdue on August 13, 2020.

Handsborough and another man, who has yet to be identified, went to Purdue’s apartment about 8:30 p.m. on the night of the murder and shot him once in the neck when he opened the door to them.

Handsborough and the other man apparently thought Purdue had marijuana they could take from him. However, there was no evidence they took anything after the shooting.

Investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Crime Stoppers of Houston are still working to identify and arrest the other man involved in the murder.

In addition to the 40-year sentence for murder, Handsborough also pleaded guilty to two armed robberies and was sentenced to 40 years in both of those cases. He cannot appeal those convictions or the sentences. All three sentences will run concurrently, and he must serve at least half of the sentence before being eligible for parole.

Assistant District Attorney Sepi Zimmer, who is a chief in the DA’s Major Offenders Division, said cell phone records showed Handsborough was at the complex at the time of the murder, and his DNA was on the victim’s fingertips.

“The victim came from a sweet family, and it’s unfortunate this kind of thing happens in Harris County because no one deserves to die like this,” Zimmer said. “We are grateful to the Harris County jury that sat through this difficult evidence and came to the correct verdict so that this family can finally start to heal.”

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