Houston Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Killing Friend

A Houston man was sentenced to 35 years in prison this week for fatally shooting a friend in 2022, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This was a senseless murder that not only left a son without a father, but left an entire family without a beloved family member,” Ogg said. “Gun violence like this is so insidious because it doesn’t just hurt one family, it damages the fabric of our entire community.”

Angelo Britton was convicted and sentenced Monday by a Harris County jury after an eight-day trial for shooting Edward Gray, a 43-year-old father, on May 12, 2022.

On the day of the murder, the two friends were riding around in Britton’s silver sedan. Britton stopped the vehicle because of an apparent mechanical problem while they were driving under an overpass at Beltway 8 and Interstate10 East around 11 p.m.

Both men got out of the car to check out the problem, and Britton pulled a pistol and shot Gray once through the heart. Britton got back into his car and left, leaving Gray dead on the street.

Moments later, drivers who were on the road and saw Gray’s body, as well as witnesses who heard the gunshot, all called the police. Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. While canvassing the area, they recovered surveillance video from a neighboring home showing the car stopping at the underpass.

A receipt in Gray’s pocket showed that he had been at a convenience store earlier in the day, and sheriff’s detectives went there to interview the clerk. Investigators were able to recover video of Gray at the store and also found video of him getting into Britton’s car.

Tracking data from Britton’s cellphone showed where the two men had driven, including stopping at the underpass. Britton was later charged with murder and arrested. At the time of the murder, he was on deferred adjudication probation for aggravated assault.

It remains unclear why Britton killed Gray. A representative of Gray’s family who gave a victim impact statement after the sentencing called Britton a “monster masquerading as a friend.”

Assistant District Attorney Jay Gordon, who is a chief in the DA’s Trial Bureau, and ADA Charles Hagerman prosecuted Britton.

“This defendant didn’t just take all of the years that Edward Gray had ahead of him,” Gordon said. “He took a father away from a teenage son, who will now go through all of the milestones of his life without a father.”

Both prosecutors credited the Sheriff’s Office with an immediate response to the crime scene and a thorough investigation that included finding the victim’s DNA in Britton’s car.

Britton must serve at least half of the prison sentence before he will be eligible for parole.