Houston Man Receives Life Sentence for Involvement in 2020 Double Murder Case

A Houston man, Xavier Jerome McConico, 23, was sentenced to life in prison this week for his involvement in two murders in 2020, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

McConico received a life sentence after being convicted of the murder of 27-year-old Earl Anthony-Blair Foster of Missouri City on March 31, 2020. The incident occurred during a heated argument that escalated into a fistfight inside a gas station located in the 2500 block of Almeda-Genoa in southwest Houston at around 9:15 p.m. During the altercation, one man punched another, rendering him unconscious. McConico subsequently brandished a handgun, prompting Foster, who was not involved in the initial altercation, and another man to flee from the store.

As the two men ran into the parking lot, McConico fired three shots, hitting Foster in the back of the head. Tragically, Foster fell and passed away near the gas pumps of the store.

McConico fled the scene, but Houston Police Department detectives managed to obtain surveillance footage of the crime and subsequently arrested McConico. He later admitted to his involvement in the shooting.

Foster, who had earned a degree in sociology from the University of Houston and played football on scholarship, lost his life in the senseless act.

In a separate incident two months before the fatal shooting of Foster, evidence revealed that McConico was involved in the shooting of 16-year-old Undre Thomas at an apartment complex on Sterlingshire Street in northeast Houston at approximately 10:55 a.m. on January 30, 2020.

Witnesses at the scene reported that the teenage victim knew McConico, and both were present at the complex when a confrontation involving multiple individuals turned into a gunfight. Tragically, Thomas was caught in the crossfire when McConico attempted to shoot someone else. Friends attempted to transport Thomas to the hospital, but due to the severity of his injuries, they pulled over and called 911 for emergency assistance. The teenager was pronounced dead at a Heights-area hospital.

Four months later, Houston Police Department investigators were able to identify McConico as the shooter and charged him with murder. At that time, he was already in the Harris County Jail for the murder that occurred on March 31.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sarah Neyland, who serves as a chief in the DA’s Organized Crime Division. Following a nine-day trial, a Harris County jury found McConico guilty of murder in just 45 minutes. McConico subsequently chose to have his sentence determined by state District Judge Josh Hill, who imposed a life sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Sarah Neyland remarked, “This defendant is a very violent gang member who shot an innocent man in the back of the head as he was running away. This defendant killed two people within two months—he deserved to be sentenced to life in prison.”