6/28/2007

HOUSTON - A 19-year-old man flew into a rage in a Houston courtroom
after a Harris County jury sentenced him to death for murder.


Dexter Johnson began knocking down chairs before he was tackled by about
a dozen courtroom officers, who ushered him out a side door.


The outburst began when Johnson's family members screamed and wailed
after hearing his sentence for the capital murder of Maria Aparece. One
person collapsed and an ambulance was called.


Evidence presented to the jury showed that Johnson was one of five
people who carjacked Aparece and her boyfriend, Huy Ngo, on June 18,
2005, as the couple talked in her car outside Ngo's home.


Prosecutors said the five threatened the couple with a shotgun and a
pistol, forced them into the backseat, then drove them around Houston
demanding money, credit cards and ATM access numbers.


Johnson then raped Aparece while Ngo was forced to listen, forced the
couple out of the car and into some woods, and shot both in the head.


The five, including an unidentified juvenile, also are suspected in a
crime rampage that included two other slayings. Three await trial on
capital murder charges in the incident.