The third and final defendant convicted of killing 71-year-old Martha Medina by dragging her during a daytime purse snatching outside an east Harris County McDonald’s has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“These three men schemed, watched and waited to ambush someone leaving a bank, and their greed cost this beloved mother and grandmother her life,” Ogg said. “While we can’t undo the horrible thing they did, we have worked to ensure that they spend decades in prison for their actions.”

Lawrence Earl Thomas, 42, was convicted by a jury of the first-degree felony of engaging in organized criminal activity during a four-day trial last week.

Afterward, a judge sentenced him to 50 years in prison. He must serve at least half of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole.

Thomas and two other men, Andrew Williams aka John Williams and Felton Ford, both 41, worked together to commit a purse snatching that led to the death of Medina on Sept. 23, 2021.

It was about 10 a.m. when the three men parked outside an area bank, apparently looking for someone to rob. They watched Medina leave the bank and followed her to a McDonald’s restaurant in the 400 block of Uvalde in Cloverleaf. Thomas was riding with Williams, and Ford was in a different car acting as a lookout.

Medina went into the restaurant to get breakfast, and when she came out, Thomas grabbed her purse, knocking Medina to the ground, and got back into the car that Williams was driving.

Williams backed over Medina as he reversed out of his parking space and then ran over her as they sped away. She was taken to an area hospital where she died of her injuries.

Williams, who was free on bond at the time of the slaying for a different capital murder, was sentenced to life without parole in April 2023.

Felton pleaded guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity in exchange for a sentence of 30 years in prison in September 2023. He must also serve at least half of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole.

Assistant District Attorney Sean Kozar-King, who is assigned to the DA’s trial bureau, prosecuted the three men with ADA Cameron Calligan, division chief in the DA’s Organized Crime Division.

“Engaging in organized crime was the appropriate charge for this defendant, and because of his criminal history he was facing 25 years to life in prison for the first-degree felony,” Kozar-King said. “The most important thing is that he spends decades behind bars for what he did to Martha Medina.”

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