HOUSTON – The man who was charged with the shooting death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes was found guilty of capital murder Friday.
The verdict comes three days after the trial started on Tuesday, April 26.
Larry Demetricus Woodruffe, 27, was charged in January 2019 with capital murder after deputies said a tip led them to find corroborating evidence of his involvement in the shooting. On Friday, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Investigators said Jazmine was shot in the head on the morning of December 30, 2018, when someone opened fire on her family’s vehicle. Jazmine’s mother and three sisters were also inside the vehicle on the East Sam Houston Parkway feeder road near Wallisville Road. Jazmine’s mother was also injured in the incident, investigators said.
Woodruff denied he was involved and told police the only thing connecting him to the crime was a statement from Eric Black Jr., another suspect in the shooting.
Black was also charged with capital murder. Authorities said Black admitted to taking part in the shooting. He is currently out on bond, records say.
Woodruffe’s criminal background
Court records show that Woodruffe has a lengthy criminal history, including being sentenced in January 2017 to two years in prison for assaulting a family member. That same year, he was released under mandatory supervision, and by November he was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun, documents said.
Court records show that he also pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in a weapons case and was sentenced to nine months in county jail. When Woodruffe pleaded guilty in that case, he was two months shy of completing his sentence on the assault charge, records show.