Dametric Marquise Hunter Gets 234 Months for Walgreens Gun Rampage

HOUSTON — A string of armed robberies targeting Walgreens stores across the Houston area ended in gunfire, blood, and death — and now, 24-year-old Dametric Marquise Hunter of Houston is paying with nearly two decades behind bars. Hunter was sentenced to 234 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, federal prosecutors confirmed.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore handed down the sentence today, marking the end of a violent spree that terrorized pharmacy employees and customers in early 2019. Hunter, along with 23-year-old co-defendant Joshua Dawayne Prater, admitted to a series of commercial armed robberies in January and February of that year. Prater, also of Houston, pleaded guilty to robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and was sentenced Nov. 15 to 132 months in prison.

The spree culminated in a deadly confrontation on Feb. 12, 2019, when a joint task force tracked Hunter and Prater fleeing a Walgreens on Westheimer Parkway in Fort Bend County. Surveillance led to a high-speed pursuit that erupted into a gunfight. Two other suspects believed to be involved in the robbery were killed in the exchange. Officers recovered shell casings, stolen merchandise, and ballistic evidence linking the pair to multiple robberies.

Hunter’s conviction stems from his role in multiple stickups where he brandished and fired a weapon — acts that federal law treats as automatic enhancements. The FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety led a months-long investigation that pieced together surveillance footage, witness statements, and forensic data to build a case that left no room for denial.

Both men have been in federal custody since their arrest and will remain so as they await transfer to U.S. Bureau of Prisons facilities. Upon release, Hunter will serve five years of supervised probation, a condition hammered home by Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery, who emphasized the danger the duo posed to the public.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Michael Lewis and Matthew Roy Peneguy prosecuted the case, underscoring how federal intervention can shut down organized street violence. The Walgreens chain, meanwhile, has yet to comment on increased security measures following the string of armed invasions.