Victim left ‘slumped in the bathtub,’ covered in blood
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McGhee
Oct. 17, Devin Tramon McGhee pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation connected to an offense from October 2021 wherein he and his twin brother were accused of entering a home in Port Neches, armed with an assault rifle, and assaulted the occupants and their small dog.
A Jefferson County grand jury indicted McGhee and twin brother Tevin Damon McGhee, both 22 years old at the time, for the late-night Oct. 8, 2021, rampage, with multiple counts related to what Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Ashley Molfino described as a night of sheer horror.
According to the probable cause affidavits for the twins’ arrests, Port Neches police were called to a home in the 1900 block of Sixth Street in reference to suspicious people, later updated to detail the suspects were two men armed with guns.
“The goal that you both had was to kill every one of us in the home that night,” a victim from the assault relived during McGhee’s sentencing in front of Jefferson County 252nd District Court Judge Raquel West. She said that the intruders targeted her husband, who was left slumped in the bathtub covered in blood, as well as her small dog. McGhee was originally charged with burglary of a habitation, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, deadly conduct with the discharge of a firearm and animal cruelty. In exchange for prosecutors dropping the remaining felony charges, McGhee pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation with sentencing to be decided by Judge West in the range of probation up to 30 years in prison. “You both hunted us for what felt like a lifetime.”
In his defense, McGhee’s attorney argued that his client had no prior criminal history, is the father of a 3-year-old, and suffered years of abuse after his mother died at a young age.
“He did not live the same life that many of us live,” the lawyer offered in hopes of leniency.
Molfino retorted that the 30-year cap is a gift – one offered to give the victims peace of mind that this ordeal has ended.
“What you and your brother put the family through that night is the stuff of a movie,” West determined after viewing evidence that she said depicted McGhee instigating his brother to rain bullets on the victims, who were, in a manner, extended family. “I know what I saw. You instigated him to do this.”
West then sentenced McGhee to serve 30 years in prison, with the finding that a deadly weapon was used in the commission of the crime. As part of the plea, the defendant is ineligible to appeal the three-decade sentence.
“When you get out, you’re still going to be young,” West concluded. “I hope you really have found religion. Good luck to you.”
Brother Tevin McGhee was previously sentenced to life in prison for an indictment for burglary of a habitation connected to the October 2021 event. Although Tevin McGhee was sentenced as part of a plea deal, he filed an appeal pro se. May 26, McGhee’s appeal was denied by the Ninth Court of Appeals.
“Our lives are forever changed,” the McGhees’ victim told the court. “We will never be the same.”