Houston man sentenced to life for murder

A Houston man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 2017 murder, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Antonio Hopkins-McGee was convicted following a four-day trial for ambushing 21-year-old Darren Young in a southwest Houston apartment complex, and shooting him seven times.

“After jurors heard how an innocent young man was gunned down by this vicious killer, they made it clear with this punishment that they never again want him on the streets of our community or any community,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in the press release.

Young was on his way to visit his great-aunt when he was shot at around 10 a.m. Nov. 21, 2017. Evidence showed that Young was shot in the back while trying to run away, and that Hopkins-McGee stood over him and continued shooting him as he lay on the ground with a severed spinal cord.

Hopkins-McGee was a drug dealer, according to Houston Police officers’ testimonies.

Young did not have a criminal record, and was not suspected of wrongdoing