A
Houston man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine
for shooting an innocent shopper in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery
store in the Jersey
Village area, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced
Tuesday.
“The
citizens of Harris County are tired of gun violence, especially a case
like this in which an incident of domestic abuse led to an innocent
shopper being shot six
times,” Ogg said. “Innocent people should not have to worry about being
shot while putting their groceries in their car.”
Kendrick
Green, 37, was sentenced by a jury last week after being convicted of
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting a 33-year-old man
at the Kroger at
9125 W. Sam Houston Parkway about 11:50 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2021.
Green
was driving a Lexus SUV with a woman he had been dating for about a
month when they got into an argument. She wanted to be dropped off at
her home, and he did not
want to take her there. During the argument, he brandished a handgun,
which frightened her. When they stopped at the Kroger, she ran into the
store and hid in the women’s restroom.
Witnesses
saw Green shouting at the woman outside the grocery store, and then he
started shouting at a man who was loading groceries into his red
Mercedes sedan. When
the Mercedes driver got into his car, Green got into his Lexus, circled
the parking lot and pulled up next to the victim. For safety, the
victim drove toward the front of the store. Green then pull up next to
the car and both men rolled down their windows.
Green began yelling at the victim and then opened fire.
Green
fired eight shots into the door of the Mercedes, hitting the victim in
his arms and torso at least five times and grazing his neck and chin.
Both
men drove away, but after Green was gone, the victim returned the store
to get help. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded and conducted
the investigation.
The victim survived and testified at trial.
Assistant
District Attorney Winston Griner, who prosecuted the case with ADA
Danielle Oxford, said the victim spent months in recovery and had
several surgeries because
of the incident.
“This
was a senseless and egregious crime,” Griner said. “The defendant
targeted a complete stranger, someone he never met, and then pursued him
and almost killed him.”
Suzanne Garofalo
Communications Division, Harris County District Attorney’s Office
1201 Franklin St.
Houston, TX 77002
