HOUSTON — A serial rapist who attacked at least six Houston women will spend decades behind bars, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Jurors convicted Erique Howard, 28, of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and armed robbery in two cases involving women who were raped at gunpoint.
Howard stalked his victims online and in his eastside neighborhood, according to prosecutors.
“He chose to be a predator near his home in Pleasantville because he knew how to hide in the woods in that area and he knew where to take the women to commit his crimes,” Assistant District Attorney Steven Harris said. “If he had his way, he would still be hiding in those woods.”
Ogg said four other women were prepared to testify that Howard also raped them.
Instead, he agreed to a 50-year prison sentence, which he can't appeal.
Prosecutors said he met his first victims online and then raped them. Eventually, he began ambushing strangers at gunpoint and forcing them to go to remote places where they were attacked.
“It’s shocking because he’s so young and his actions were rapidly growing in severity,” Assistant District Attorney Savana Hooper said. “He was going to keep doing it, and it was going to keep getting worse.”
Howard wasn't charged in the cases until his arrest on an unrelated charge in Jersey Village. DNA samples taken in that case linked him to the rapes.
Prosecutors applauded the brave victims for reporting the assaults and then being willing to testify against Howard.
“This defendant made plans and followed through with those plans to violate and assault numerous victims,” Ogg said. “This was not a one-time crime, and we are proud that a Harris County jury saw the evidence and understood that this man should not be allowed on the street.”
Howard must serve at least half of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole.
