HOUSTON, Texas — Nearly seven years after 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes was gunned down in a drive-by shooting that shocked the country, the man who pulled the trigger is serving life in prison.
With no possibility of parole, and the second defendant remains behind bars for his role in the crime.
Jazmine was killed on the morning of December 30, 2018, as she rode in a car with her mother and sisters near a Walmart in northeast Harris County.
The family’s vehicle was struck by multiple rounds of gunfire, and Jazmine was hit in the head.
Her mother, LaPorsha Washington, was also wounded. The girls had simply been out for a routine drive when the shooting erupted.
The case drew national attention when investigators initially released a composite sketch of a white man in a red pickup, based on early witness accounts.
Community outrage grew, and a large reward was offered as the family and advocates pleaded for information.
Weeks later, a tip led detectives in a different direction, ultimately identifying two Black men as the actual suspects.
Prosecutors later determined that the shooting was a case of mistaken identity.
According to court testimony, the two men believed they were targeting rival drug dealers when they opened fire on the family’s car.
The intended targets were never inside the vehicle; instead, it carried a mother and her children, including Jazmine, who was just seven years old.
In April 2022, a Harris County jury convicted 26-year-old Larry Woodruffe of capital murder for firing the shots that killed Jazmine.
Under Texas law, the conviction carried an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Woodruffe has maintained little public comment since sentencing but will spend the rest of his life in state custody.
His co-defendant, 23-year-old Eric Black Jr., admitted to driving the car used in the ambush.
He pleaded guilty to murder in 2022 as part of an agreement with prosecutors that reduced his charge from capital murder.
Black is currently imprisoned while the courts finalize his punishment in connection with the case.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has repeatedly described the killing as one of the most painful cases the community has faced in recent years, noting that investigators, prosecutors and community members worked “very long and very hard” to identify and prosecute those responsible.
For Jazmine’s family, however, no outcome in court has erased the trauma of that morning.
Her relatives continue to speak about her as a funny, energetic child who loved her sisters and had just begun to discover the world around her.
Vigils and memorial events in Houston have kept her name in the public eye, with community leaders using the case to call for stronger efforts to curb gun violence and prevent retaliatory shootings.
As of late 2025, the legal phase of the case is largely complete, but the story of Jazmine Barnes remains a symbol in Houston a reminder of how quickly a single violent decision can destroy a child’s life and permanently alter a family and a community.
