Mug shot of Zy’Nika Ayesha Woods and screenshot of Joseph Harrell attacking Nhung Troung (Houston Police Department)
A 19-year-old woman in Texas who admitted to her role in the violent attack of a woman who was body-slammed to the ground and left paralyzed will not spend any time in prison thanks to a plea deal reached with prosecutors. Harris County District Court Judge Kristin M. Guiney on Tuesday sentenced Zy’Nika Ayesha Woods to 10 years of probation for her role in the brutal robbery of 41-year-old Nhung Truong, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Woods, who was originally charged with one count of aggravated robbery causing serious bodily injury, reached a deal with prosecutors in which she agreed to plead guilty to a downgraded charge of robbery causing bodily injury and to testify against her co-defendant in the case, 18-year-old Joseph Harrell.
However, Woods received a deferred adjudication of guilt in the so-called “jugging” attack, which could keep her out of prison and without a criminal record. “Jugging” refers to a situation in which a criminal watches a customer at a bank, ATM, credit union, or shopping area, then follows that person to a second location and steals their money or valuables.
Woods’ deferred adjudication is “a special form of judge-ordered community supervision (commonly known as ‘probation’) that permits a defendant to accept responsibility for a crime without an actual conviction being placed on the record,” according to the Texas Senate Jurisprudence Committee. This means that if Woods successfully completes her decade of probation, the charge against her will be dismissed.
Harrell, who paralyzed Troung when he lifted her up and body-slammed her to the ground, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery causing serious bodily injury earlier this month. Judge Guiney sentenced him to 30 years in a state correctional facility with the requirement that he serve at least 15 years before being eligible for parole.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Truong on Feb. 13 went to the Bank of America at 9875 Blackhawk Boulevard and withdrew more than $4,000 in cash for an upcoming trip to Vietnam. She then drove 24 miles to the 9800 block of Bellaire Boulevard. Unbeknownst to Truong, Woods and Harrell followed her the entire 24 miles from the bank waiting to rob her. Woods drove the tailing vehicle as Harrell waited for the opportunity to confront her and take the cash.
In surveillance footage of the attack, Harrell can be seen grabbing and struggling with Troung, who tries to run away. Troung then drops several items, including an envelope filled with cash. She picks it up and attempts to flee, but Harrell grabs her from behind, picks her up, and slams her to the ground before fleeing.
Troung suffered several cracked ribs and a spinal injury that paralyzed her legs.
“In fact, when I saw it [the video], just made me mad as hell,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a press conference following Woods and Harrell’s arrests. “Slammed her down like she was a bag of potatoes.”
Mayor Turner also previously promised to get Harrell and Woods “off the streets.”
“It may take a few days. It may take a few weeks. But we will find you, and we’ll get you off the streets,” he said. “Then I will trust the other parts of our system, criminal justice system, to make sure that they remain off the streets, so it doesn’t happen to somebody else.”
Truong in March told Houston ABC affiliate KTRK that she felt “really scared” that Harell and Woods would be “coming after” her over the incident and asked for the community’s help “to get them the punishment they deserve.”
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