A 24-year-old Houston man was handed a 22-year prison sentence on October 30 after he pleaded guilty to assaulting and fatally shooting a man during an encounter at a home on June 28, 2021. Per FOX 26 Houston, the victim, identified as Gregory L. Moore, was with James Ray Lane’s girlfriend when he was killed.
Authorities said Moore was a New Jersey resident who traveled to Houston with his three friends for a vacation. The victim and his friends were said to be lodging in an Airbnb. Prior to his killing, authorities said Moore and his friends visited several clubs and restaurants over that weekend, adding that they also encountered many women and exchanged contact numbers.
One of the women Moore met during that period was Lane’s girlfriend, and she later went to the Airbnb where the victim and his friends were staying. But Lane is said to have made his way to the home after he used his girlfriend’s cellphone location to track her.
Authorities said Lane was armed with a gun and in possession of a flashlight when he entered the home, adding that he pistol-whipped Moore as well as his girlfriend before he fatally shot the victim. The convicted man subsequently left the home with his girlfriend.
Authorities ultimately linked Lane to the fatal shooting and arrested him after obtaining witness statements and accessing cellphone data, FOX 26 Houston reported.
“This was a planned and premeditated attack on an unsuspecting visitor to Houston, and there have to be consequences,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “We were prepared to go to trial and seek justice in this case, but the defendant chose to ask the judge to decide his punishment, and that was his choice.”
“This was a jealous ambush – he ran up to them with a flashlight and a gun and ended up shooting nine times,” Assistant District Attorney Kasie Herring also said. “People in Harris County want to know that things are getting safer. I pray to God that the justice we seek in these cases makes this a safer place.”
Moore’s family and friends also gave victim impact statements during the sentencing. “They talked about how he drove all the way to Spring from southwest Houston and could have changed his mind anywhere along the way,” ADA Rodulfo Martinez said about the family. “He did not show any true remorse or accountability, even after pleading guilty.
Lane can become eligible for parole after serving at least half of his sentence.
