Man sentenced to 40 years for killing 11-year-old grabbing his coat from car in 2022
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A 22-year-old man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted in the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in 2022.
The video above is from a previous story when Darius' father spoke to ABC13 about his son.
Daveyonne Howard pleaded guilty to murder for shooting 11-year-old Darius "DJ" Dugas at the boy's apartment complex in northeast Harris County.
Authorities said the deadly shooting happened at about 7 p.m. during a winter storm on Feb. 3, 2022.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said that prior to Darius' murder, Howard was in another complex, breaking into vehicles.
Howard, who was 19 years old at the time, was allegedly caught breaking into a car, and the vehicle's owner, who was trying to retrieve his stolen items, chased him to the Tidwell location.
According to Gonzalez, Howard started shooting at the owner when he hit Darius when he was simply grabbing his coat from a car.
Howard was in the Harris County Jail on an unrelated charge when Gonzalez announced that he was also charged with Darius' death.
The sheriff said Howard has an extensive criminal history that dates back to 2019 and was out on bond for aggravated robbery at the time of Darius' murder.
Harris County Records show Howard was placed in jail on Feb. 14 on an unrelated robbery threats case.
"Before the shooting, this defendant was out burglarizing vehicles, so we thought a lengthy sentence was appropriate and justice was done," Carina Batista, who prosecuted Howard, said. "He was just shooting in an apartment complex, right in front of a playground, and this could have been anyone's child. DJ just got caught in the middle."
SEE RELATED:
