Houston man tracks girlfriend's phone, assaults then kills man she's with
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A Houston man was sentenced to prison on Monday after pleading guilty earlier this year to murder for a shooting in Spring, says Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
James Ray Lane, 24, entered a guilty plea for murder on Aug. 17, for killing Gregory L. Moore on June 28, 2021. He was sentenced to 22 years after a two-month pre-sentence investigation. Lane will have to serve at least half of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
"This was a planned and premeditated attack on an unsuspecting visitor to Houston, and there have to be consequences," Ogg stated. "We were prepared to go to trial and seek justice in this case, but the defendant chose to ask the judge to decide his punishment, and that was his choice."
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Moore was a single father of three from New Jersey at the time of his death and was staying at an Airbnb in Spring with three friends who had come to Houston for vacation. The group went out to multiple clubs and restaurants during their weekend and met several women, exchanging phone numbers, according to the Harris County DA's Office.
On Sunday night, Moore and one of the women he had met that weekend arrived at the house in the 3500 block of Braewin Court, while the other men were inside the Airbnb.
The woman was Lane's girlfriend, and Lane tracked her using her cellphone location.
According to officials, Lane drove to where the house was located, got out his car with a flashlight and handgun, then assaulted Moore and the woman by pistol-whipping both of them. Lane shot Moore multiple times before leaving with the woman.
Harris County Sheriff's Office detectives were able to identify Lane as a suspect after using cellphone data and witness statements. He was arrested and taken into custody several days later, authorities say.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kasie Herring and Rodulfo Martinez, both of whom are assigned to the DA's trial bureau.
Assistant District Attorney Kasie Herring said, "This was a jealous ambush - he ran up to them with a flashlight and a gun and ended up shooting nine times," Herring said. "People in Harris County want to know that things are getting safer. I pray to God that the justice we seek in these cases makes this a safer place."
Upon Lane's sentencing on Monday, friends and family of Moore delivered victim impact statements.
"They talked about how he drove all the way to Spring from southwest Houston and could have changed his mind anywhere along the way," said ADA Rodulfo Martinez about the family. "He did not show any true remorse or accountability, even after pleading guilty."