Houston man convicted of killing college graduate in 2021

Emmanuel Browne, 22, had started his own cell phone repair business and was repairing Jarell Barrows' phone in 2021 when he was shot.

HOUSTON – A Houston man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing a young college graduate with promising future prospects.

A jury convicted 22-year-old Jarell Barrows of capital murder and automatically sentenced him to life in prison without parole for the shooting death of Emmanuel Browne.

The victim had graduated from Lone Star College and started his own cell phone repair business when he was gunned down on April 29, 2021.

Browne was killed in a robbery while repairing a telephone belonging to Barrows.

“This is a heartbreaking case because the victim was a young man who had so much potential and so much of his life ahead of him,” said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. “No one should have to fear being robbed and killed while trying to build a business and live a productive life.”

Browne taught himself how to repair cell phones as a teenager after he was broke. He used his experience to open a small cell phone repair business after graduating. Prosecutors said Browne tried to protect himself by fixing cell phones in his car rather than entering strangers' homes.

On the day of the murder, Barrows and James Duplechain called Browne and asked him to come to a Yellowstone apartment complex near Highway 288 to repair a phone. Surveillance video showed the victim sitting in the driver's seat with his window rolled down when Barrows pointed a gun at his head and opened the car door.

As Browne attempted to close the door, Barrows shot him, reached into the car to get a phone, then shot Browne again before running away.

“You can see in the video that the victim holds up his hands to show that he is empty-handed before he was shot the first time. The second shot was a fatal shot,” said Assistant District Attorney Casey Smith.

Houston man convicted of killing college graduate in 2021

Browne tried to drive away, but crashed into a nearby house and died.

“It's really sad because he was completely innocent, had just graduated from college and was planning to further his education,” Smith said. “His family came to court every day of the trial to make sure justice was done.”

Surveillance videos led to Barrows and Duplechain.

Duplechain pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.