HOUSTON — The third and final defendant charged in the 2021 murder of a Houston mother and grandmother is going to prison.
Jurors convicted Lawrence Thomas of engaging in organized criminal activity for his role in the dragging death of 71-year-old Martha Medina. The judge then sentenced him to 50 years behind bars.
Editor's note: The above video originally aired in 2023.
Thomas and two other men followed Medina from a bank to a McDonald's in the Cloverleaf area. Thomas grabbed her purse, knocking Medina to the ground. Before they sped away from the scene on Uvalde, they backed over Medina and then ran over her again, killing her.
"These three men schemed, watched and waited to ambush someone leaving a bank, and their greed cost this beloved mother and grandmother her life,” Ogg said. “While we can’t undo the horrible thing they did, we have worked to ensure that they spend decades in prison for their actions.”
Thomas, known as "Dirty" on the streets, was originally charged with capital murder after his arrest but was tried on the lesser charge.
“Engaging in organized crime was the appropriate charge for this defendant, and because of his criminal history he was facing 25 years to life in prison for the first-degree felony,” Assistant District Attorney Sean Kozar-King said. “The most important thing is that he spends decades behind bars for what he did to Martha Medina.”
Thomas must serve at least half of the 50-year sentence before he will be eligible for parole.
Family's fight for justice
Andrew Williams, the one who ran over Medina, was convicted of capital murder in 2023 and sentenced to life without parole.
The victim's family was furious when they learned Williams was out on bond for a 2019 capital murder case when he killed Medina. Williams was featured in a 2021 KHOU 11 Investigates story about capital murder suspects being freed on bond. A judge freed Williams on a $150,000 bond in the 2019 case and he got out of jail after posting just a fraction of that.
“It frustrates me and angers me,” Lourdes Medina, the victim's daughter, told us after Williams arrest. “This could have been prevented, had the right decisions been taken. It totally could have been prevented.”
Medina's family joined others in the fight for changes to Harris County's revolving door bond system. The public outcry and media attention put pressure on the bail bond board and they voted to require defendants to post 10% of the total bond.
Felton Ford, who was the lookout during the robbery, pleaded guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity in 2023 in exchange for a 30-year sentence.