10:16 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Associated Press
HOUSTON - An angry teen began knocking down chairs after learning in a Houston courtroom Wednesday that he had received the death penalty in a capital murder case.
He was quickly tackled by about a dozen officers, who ushered him out a side door, footage aired on KHOU television showed.
The incident came just after Dexter Johnson was sentenced in the rape-slaying of Maria Aparece. He was convicted this month.
The outburst began when Johnson's family members screamed and cried after he was sentenced to death. One person collapsed and an ambulance was called, the Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site.
Johnson was accused of being one of five people that carjacked Aparece and her boyfriend, Huy Ngo, in June 2005.
The couple were driven around Houston and threatened with a shotgun and a pistol as the assailants demanded money, credit cars and ATM access numbers, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Johnson raped Aparace in the backseat of her car after parking near a patch of woods. Ngo was forced to listen to the assault on his knees as the other four taunted him.
The couple were marched into the woods and shot in the head.
Three others still face capital murder charges in the incident. A juvenile has not been charged.
Associated Press
HOUSTON - An angry teen began knocking down chairs after learning in a Houston courtroom Wednesday that he had received the death penalty in a capital murder case.
He was quickly tackled by about a dozen officers, who ushered him out a side door, footage aired on KHOU television showed.
The incident came just after Dexter Johnson was sentenced in the rape-slaying of Maria Aparece. He was convicted this month.
The outburst began when Johnson's family members screamed and cried after he was sentenced to death. One person collapsed and an ambulance was called, the Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site.
Johnson was accused of being one of five people that carjacked Aparece and her boyfriend, Huy Ngo, in June 2005.
The couple were driven around Houston and threatened with a shotgun and a pistol as the assailants demanded money, credit cars and ATM access numbers, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Johnson raped Aparace in the backseat of her car after parking near a patch of woods. Ngo was forced to listen to the assault on his knees as the other four taunted him.
The couple were marched into the woods and shot in the head.
Three others still face capital murder charges in the incident. A juvenile has not been charged.
Who will be the first to take his side? Any bets?
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