HOUSTON – A Cypress man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole for killing a Good Samaritan in 2016 on New Year’s Day at a restaurant in Chinatown, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday.
“He was a ring leader who sent masked gunmen into a family restaurant,” Ogg said. “People deserve to be safe when they sit down to celebrate a holiday meal with the people they love.”
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Enzo Ubadimma, 24, was convicted of capital murder after a five-day trial and automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the robbery and murder of 58-year-old Herman Ray Browning at the Huong Giang Hue restaurant.
Ubadimma was the head of a crime ring that included two men and two women. He drove to the restaurant several times to check it out before the robbery with different members of the ring.
Earlier on the day of the robbery, the two women pretended to use the restroom in order to check out the eatery. Later, after they had reported back, Ubadimma took the men, and those two went in wearing ski masks and brandishing handguns while Ubadimma waited.
Browning, a Marine veteran who was dining with his wife and 8-year-old son, attempted to fight back and was shot and killed.
The two men fled the restaurant in a car driven by Ubadimma.
Assistant District Attorney Megan Long, who is part of the District Attorney’s Homicide Division and prosecuted the case, said Ubadimma repeatedly checked out the restaurant and then recruited others to help him rob it.
“This defendant was not just a getaway driver; he masterminded the entire robbery and was the brains behind it,” Long said. “Meanwhile, Mr. Browning’s family was there to celebrate his wife’s birthday, and their hopes and dreams for the New Year turned into a nightmare.”
Cases are still pending against the two women as well as one of the men, who was a juvenile at the time and has been certified to be tried as an adult. The other man, Telavell Coleman, has also been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of capital murder.