A jury in the 248th State District Court on Monday handed down a capital murder conviction for 41-year-old Andrew Williams, who was on trial over the last week for the Sept. 23, 2021, purse-snatching that took the life of Martha Medina.
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Investigators believe Williams, along with two other people, allegedly targeted Medina, followed her from a bank to the fast-food restaurant on Uvalde Road, and pounced on the unsuspecting victim as she was about to drive out of the parking lot.
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Records state Williams, with Medina's belongings, got into an awaiting vehicle that ran over the woman and took off. Medina was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office would arrest Williams 12 days later for his alleged involvement. A second suspect, Felton Ford, was arrested a month after Williams. Deputies would take a third person, Lawrence Thomas, into custody nearly a year later.
Ford's charging documentation revealed a tip identified Williams' involvement in the robbery, leading investigators to look into his GPS data for the ankle monitor he was required to wear for a previous 2019 robbery and murder case.
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Investigators allege Ford scoped out Medina at a Chase bank ATM and coordinated with Williams through cell phone about the victim. Thomas is accused of being behind the wheel of the car that hit Medina.
Williams is no stranger to the criminal justice system. Eyewitness News obtained his prior criminal cases, including one in which he allegedly hit his ex-girlfriend with a car.
In the immediate wake of the purse-snatching, her family railed against the presiding judge who set Williams' bond in the 2019 case.
"We're feeling a little sad but also empowered because we want to get a message across the city, not just the city, but to the judges that continue to let these repeat offenders out," the victim's daughter, Lourdes Medina, said back in October 2021. "We want to put Hilary Unger's name out there, first of all, and there's plenty of more judges after her. But, we feel like she has just as much blood in her hands for my mother's death as much as Andrew Williams does."
Ford and Thomas' charges have not yet been resolved.