The mastermind who orchestrated a fatal ambush that killed an 11-year-old boy and the boy’s stepfather in their driveway in 2020 was sentenced to life in prison without parole this week, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This defendant’s intentions were clear: he wanted to commit murder and was trying to hide behind the triggerman who killed an innocent man and a little boy in broad daylight,” Ogg said. “We are grateful to the jurors who agreed that a capital murder conviction is the right result because it means this man can never again threaten our community.”

Dewayne Batiste, 43, was convicted of capital murder for his role in killing 11-year-old Dominic Sumicek and his 41-year-old stepfather, Menuell Solomon, as the two sat in Solomon’s car outside their home on October 26, 2020.

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An armed robber who killed a convenience store clerk in 2019 was sentenced this week to life in prison for murder, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This defendant had no regard for anyone else when he used a gun to rob and steal, and now the victim’s family will never again see this hardworking and beloved woman,” Ogg said. “This agreement ensures that the defendant will spend decades in prison with no appeals.”

Marcus Kenneth Cox-Davis, 24, was facing life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder for shooting 32-year-old Donna Peña, a mother of two who was killed while working at a gas station in northwest Harris County on March 8, 2019.

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A Crosby man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old child beginning in 2017 was sentenced to life in prison by a Harris County jury, District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“Crimes like this that happen under the cover of darkness need to be brought to the light so that we can get justice for the victim and their family,” Ogg said. “And Texas law allows juries to sentence predators who do things like this to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the right result.”

Roger Allan Smith, 55, was convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child for repeatedly abusing a child who was part of his extended family while other family members were out of the home or asleep.

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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg joined former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett today to announce that her office has now diverted more than 10,000 people struggling with mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into medical treatment.

Ogg’s mental health diversion program has diverted 10,082 people as of Jan. 31, 2024. The program, begun in September 2018, was one of the first of its kind in the nation and has been widely copied around the nation since then. The goal was – and is – to work with law enforcement to change the paradigm for the mentally ill by providing them with help and long-term treatment, which keeps our communities safer.

Emmett, who made mental health a major priority during his tenure as county judge and whose name adorns Harris County’s mental health diversion center, said he was proud to work with Ogg to ensure that the county’s jail is no longer the state’s largest mental health provider.

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The boyfriend of the mother of two-year-old Maliyah Bass pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison in connection with the death of the little girl, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“The disappearance of this little girl shocked and alarmed our community and we all mourn her,” Ogg said. “No one ever wants tragedies like this to happen, but when they do, our prosecutors work to make sure that we get justice for the family.”

Trevion Thompson, 25, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three felonies, including injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, in exchange for a prison sentence of 40 years.

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A Houston man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 11-year-old on several occasions, including New Year’s Eve 2022, which resulted in her getting pregnant and having a child, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“The victim and her family want to raise awareness that this abuse can happen to anyone and that parents need to stay ever vigilant about who they bring around their kids,” Ogg said. “This could happen to anybody’s family.”

Deon Williams, 28, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Tuesday. As part of the plea agreement, Williams cannot appeal the conviction or the sentence. He must serve at least half of the prison sentence before he will be eligible for parole.

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A Louisiana man who broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and shot her and her neighbor as they were having dinner, killing the neighbor, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“Our office takes all allegations of domestic violence so seriously because we see, far too often, that it escalates to murder,” Ogg said. “And, sometimes, like in this horribly unfair and tragic case, a completely innocent bystander loses their life.”

Kentrell Obrien Brumfield, 36, had moved to Houston from the north Louisiana town of Farmerville and had been in a dating relationship with a Houston woman. He was charged in June 2022 for robbing and choking her.

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A Pasadena mother has been sentenced by a judge to 40 years in prison for her role in the abuse of two children, a toddler and a newborn, beginning in 2019, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Wednesday.

“Texas laws give the same range of punishment for an abuser and for cases like this where a parent consciously and repeatedly puts a child in harm’s way by leaving them with an abuser,” Ogg said. “This was not a one-time mistake or some awful accident, this was a pattern of intentional abuse. The children in our community deserve better.”

Emily Aust, 30, and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Austin Reid, were both arrested in 2020 as police and prosecutors unraveled their lies to determine what happened to Aust’s two children: a two-year-old toddler who was killed and a newborn who was seriously injured.

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A Wharton man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for his role in a club shooting that killed three people, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This is yet another example of how gun violence can tear families apart,” Ogg said. “Three young men, one of whom was a completely innocent bystander, were killed when this defendant flouted our laws and avoided every security measure put in place to protect people in that club, and a Harris County jury agreed that he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

Demontae Lavon Williams, 28, was convicted of capital murder by a Harris County jury after a four-day trial for killing Jailyn Page, 19, Bryce Lee Goddard, 21, and Christopher Donshae Jackson, 22, on October 20, 2020.

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