HOUSTON – Nearly two years after a violent attack outside a north Houston pawn shop left a man with dementia severely injured, a judge on Monday sentenced 30-year-old Trayvion Lockridge to 15 years in prison for aggravated robbery.
Lockridge’s defense attorney, Perry Bass, said Lockridge and a friend had just bought a television from a nearby pawn shop when they saw 69-year-old Florentino Hurtado standing near their car.
According to Bass, surveillance video shows Hurtado, who suffers from dementia, looking around and placing his hand on Lockridge’s car door handle. Bass said Lockridge believed the man was trying to break in.
“They were under the impression that he was trying to break in the car,” Bass said. “But he had dementia, there was a scuffle, there was an assault, and so it was a little over the top.”
Bass said Lockridge has expressed regret for what happened.
“He said yeah he was sorry about it,” said Bass. “It was bad judgment. He overreacted and he didn’t understand the situation.”
The state had requested a 30-year sentence, but the judge ordered 15-years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Lockridge will receive credit for nearly a year already served in the Harris County Jail.
Victim’s Granddaughter: “How could you do that to an old man?”
For Hurtado’s family, the sentencing brought mixed emotions.
His granddaughter, Delyla Brown, described her grandfather as “a loving man, caring man, hardworking man.”
She said watching the attack, which was caught on camera, was devastating.
“It was breathtaking at first. I couldn’t really watch it,” Brown said. “You stomped him while he was on the ground. He was defenseless.
Brown believes Lockridge’s explanation, that he thought Hurtado was breaking into his car, doesn’t justify the violence.
“I think that was an excuse, a little cop out,” Brown said. “He reached for their doorknob. That’s all he did.”
Hurtado survived the attack but suffered significant injuries, including facial bruising, stitches, and head trauma.
Brown said her grandfather’s dementia worsened rapidly afterward.
“If you try to tell him now he got beat up, he would not believe you,” said Brown.
Before the attack, Hurtado could recognize family members.
“Before the beating he was able to recall people’s faces, his granddaughters, his great grandchildren, but now he there’s there’s no recollection,” said Brown.”
His health has continued to decline.
“He was recently in ICU. He was intubated, he had a collapsed lung. I just feel like it’s all effects of what happened,” Brown said.
She hopes the case reminds people to show kindness to vulnerable seniors.
“Show some love and some compassion… If that was your grandfather, you would want somebody to lend a helping hand,” said Brown. “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”
Despite wishing the sentence was longer, Brown said the family feels a sense of closure.
There was another suspect in the case, Deroderic Stephens, who is currently serving time in the Texas Department of Corrections for a different crime.
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