A Harris County man who ran from Texas after a deadly home invasion near Cleveland and stayed free for more than a year will spend the rest of his life in prison. On Monday, November 9, 2026, Anthony Lawrence Green, 32, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the 435th District Court before Judge Patty Maginnis. The sentence followed his Capital Murder conviction on November 6, when a Montgomery County jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding him guilty. Chief Prosecutors Brittney Aaron and Amy Waddle tried the case. According to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, on January 25, 2024, Green and several other men from Harris County forced their way into a Cleveland-area home looking for drugs and money. When the family could not come up with the cash the intruders demanded, the husband reached for a firearm next to his bed and was shot five times in the back. His wife and three daughters were in the home during the invasion. The Splendora Police Department identified the getaway vehicle, which led to the arrest of three suspects that night, and Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office K-9 units helped track down one who tried to run. Green got away. Investigators kept working the case until he was found in New Orleans, Louisiana, and arrested with help from the United States Marshals Service. Prosecutors used surveillance video, cell phone records, location data, digital forensic evidence and testimony from co-defendants to show that Green took part in the crime. He was convicted under the Texas law of parties, which can hold a person criminally responsible for the actions of another participant in a crime. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation, and the District Attorney’s Office Digital Forensics Unit did extensive analysis that helped identify Green and piece together what happened. “A wife lost her husband. Three daughters lost their father. Their home should have been a place of safety, not the scene of an unimaginable tragedy. Nothing can restore what this family has lost, but the verdict ensures that one of the men responsible will never walk free again,” said Chief Prosecutor Brittney Aaron. “Anthony Green fled across state lines, but the evidence followed him. Investigators spent more than a year putting together the pieces of this case, and their determination ensured that distance would not become an escape from accountability,” said Chief Prosecutor Amy Waddle. District Attorney Mike Holley added, “Anthony Green may not have acted alone, but he shares the responsibility for the life that was taken. Texas law recognizes that responsibility, and this sentence ensures he will never escape its consequences.” The District Attorney’s Office thanked the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Splendora Police Department, the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service and all the investigative and forensic staff who worked on the case. Three other men were arrested the night of the shooting and remain in the Montgomery County Jail awaiting trial. Derrick Williams, 29, was taken into custody at the FuelMaxx at Fostoria Road and Highway 59 when the getaway car pulled away and left him at the gas pump as Splendora officers moved in. Jose Gutierrez, 25, was caught about 50 yards from the crashed Ford Fusion near the railroad tracks off Highway 59, barefoot and carrying a black ski mask. Andre Franklin, 28, was found with the help of drones, several hundred yards from the crash in cold water and was taken to a Kingwood hospital for possible hypothermia before being booked into jail.
