In a recent development, an 18-year-old Houston man, Joseph Harrell, has been handed a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a series of attacks, one of which resulted in a woman being paralyzed.
The incident occurred in Houston's Chinatown district.
Harrell pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated robbery leading to serious bodily injury, in relation to an attack that transpired on February 13, 2023. The victim of this assault, Nhung Troung, was left wheelchair-bound, with paralysis from the waist down, as reported by KRIV.
On the eighth anniversary of the brutal attack, Troung expressed satisfaction with the court's decision to incarcerate Harrell for the next three decades. Hai Bui, a representative from We The People Organize, conveyed Troung's sentiments, stating that she "feels justice has been served" and expressed hope for Harrell's reformation.
Blaze News, in a report from late March, revealed that the assault was captured on surveillance footage, showing Harrell violently throwing Troung to the ground, resulting in a fractured spine. Harrell was subsequently apprehended for the incident.
The authorities initially suspected the assault to be a case of "jugging," a type of robbery where the perpetrator tails the victim from a bank after a withdrawal. Investigators disclosed that Harrell had trailed Troung for 24 miles before assaulting her in an attempt to steal $4,300 funds she had withdrawn for a family visit to Vietnam.
The prosecution initially proposed a bail amount of $200,000, citing Harrell's previous charge for illegal weapon possession. However, Harrell's court-appointed defense attorney, Catherine Evans, stated, "I requested a bond considerably lower than what Judge Guiney actually set and informed her that the clients family was currently unable to make his bond."
Evans further added that bond conditions were in place, which would put Harrell under 24-hour house arrest and require him to wear a GPS monitor, should his family manage to post sufficient bonds in the future.
In the aftermath of the attack, Troung's children, who relied on her as the family's primary breadwinner, expressed uncertainty about their financial future.
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