A Houston man who took his ankle monitor off to commit a murder in the Cypress area in 2018 was sentenced to 35 years in prison late Thursday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“We are already dealing with rampant gun crime, and the situation gets worse when criminals can simply remove the ankle monitors they are supposed to wear as a condition of bond,” Ogg said. “It is a tragedy that a young man lost his life to someone who took advantage of the system to commit murder while free on bond.”

Jordan Isaiha Lopez, 22, was sentenced by state District Judge Denise Collins after a jury had convicted him of murder for shooting 19-year-old Austin Balogun on July 5, 2018.

Lopez and another man went to Balogun’s house, where they tied him up in order to rob him. While Lopez was holding a gun on Balogun in the victim’s bedroom, the victim was able to get to a gun and shot Lopez in the hand. Lopez then killed Balogun and fled.

At the time, Lopez was supposed to be wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor as a condition of bond after being arrested for trying to commit a home invasion six months earlier, but he had taken it off.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crime.

Assistant District Attorneys Chris Condon, Elizabeth Liberman and Chris Handley prosecuted the case.

“We appreciate the jury and the judge hearing all of the facts in this case and ensuring that we could get this guy off the street,” Condon said. “We were honored to work with the victim’s mother to get justice for her and her son.”