Houston Man Sentenced to 60 Years for Double Murder of Girlfriend and Father

A Houston man pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 60 years in prison last week for killing his girlfriend and father in 2021, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“This was not an accident or mistake or anything other than an intentional double murder,” Ogg said. “The decisions that this defendant made have hurt two families immeasurably, and now he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Larry Britton, 41, was charged with capital murder for shooting Joanne Rosas, 40, and his father, 69-year-old Larry Britton Sr., on August 7, 2021.

On the night of the shooting, Britton was using PCP at the northwest Houston home he shared with his father. Rosas, his girlfriend, was also staying at the residence. Britton shot her inside the house, then chased his father outside and shot him on the street, an act captured on surveillance video.

When officers with the Houston Police Department responded to reports of the shooting, they found Britton Sr. dead outside the home. Inside, they found Rosas, who was still alive and able to describe the events to police. She was transported to a hospital but succumbed to her injuries three weeks later. After her death, Britton’s charges were upgraded to capital murder for killing two people in the same incident.

Last Thursday, Britton pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for a 60-year sentence, avoiding a potential life sentence without parole if convicted of capital murder.

Assistant District Attorney Phillip White, chief of the Homicide Division, prosecuted the case. “These two people are gone forever because of the actions of this defendant—two separate families are still suffering because of what he did,” White said. “It’s good that both families were able to get justice.”

Britton cannot appeal the conviction or sentence and must serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible for parole.