Man receives fate for allegedly killing ex-college football player, teen

A gang member was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly killing two people in two months: a former college football player and a 16-year-old boy in Texas.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced on Saturday that 23-year-old Xavier Jerome McConico was convicted in the shooting of Earl Anthony-Blair Foster on March 31, 2020, in Houston. According to prosecutors, several people were in a heated argument that turned physical at a gas station on Houston’s southwest side. A man punched another man, leaving him unconscious. McConico then pulled out a gun, and Foster, who was not involved in the fight, took off running into the parking lot.

McConico fired three shots, one of which heat Foster in the back of the head near the gas pumps, according to prosecutors. Foster, 27, died and McConico ran away. Police were able to obtain a warrant for McConico’s arrest after pulling surveillance footage. He admitted to the shooting, prosecutors said.

Foster played football at the University of Houston from 2011-2015. He was a senior on the 12-1 team that upset the Florida State University Seminoles in the Peach Bowl. For the season, he appeared in all 14 games and tallied six tackles as a safety. Foster earned a degree in sociology.

The jury deliberated just 45 minutes to hand down the guilty verdict after a nine-day trial. A judge then gave McConico a life sentence.

Two months before he killed Foster, McConico is accused of killing 16-year-old Undre Thomas on Jan. 30, 2020. According to witnesses, Undre and McConico were at an apartment complex on Houston’s northeast side fight broke out. Undre was caught in the crossfire when McConico was trying to shoot someone else, prosecutors said. Friends tried to drive Undre to the hospital but his injuries were so severe they had to pull over and call 911. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Four months after the shooting, prosecutors charged McConico with Undre’s murder. He was already in jail. With his life sentence already secured in Foster’s murder, the charges in Undre’s case were dismissed. Undre had a “deep love for horses and naturally gravitated to the outdoors life and its experiences,” his obituary said.

Prosecutors are happy to have McConico off the streets. He had several prior convictions and was a documented member of the Go Getta Money Team gang, court documents say.

“This defendant is a very violent gang member who shot an innocent man in the back of the head as he was running away,” Assistant District Attorney Sarah Neyland said in a statement. “This defendant killed two people within two months—he deserved to be sentenced to life in prison.”