Houston News Blog

​George Bush Intercontinental Airport may not be on the same level as mythic Mafioso burial grounds such as JFK in New York or the airport in Newark, N.J., but it still finds a stiff every once in a while.

Last week, airport police got a call about a terrible stench coming from the parking lot of the D terminal. And as we have learned here at Bayou Body Count, a foul stench coming from a parking lot can only mean one thing: a body.

Sure enough, police tracked the smell down to a Ford Focus parked on level 5, section F-6, where they discovered the body of a 41-year-old woman in the back seat. The body, which was decomposing, has not yet been identified, police say. The car had been parked there since October 7.

Police are also counting on an autopsy to ID a man and a woman found dead on Saturday at 6301 West Bellfort. Police say that someone who lived at the apartment complex there came home after being away for a few days to the awful smell of death. He called police, who discovered the two bodies in a bedroom, police say.

Investigators say that they could not immediately figure out how the man and woman died and that they have no real leads.

​There's the guy who allegedly drove over a woman and then there's the fellow who allegedly shot three dudes and burned the house down.Yes, these are just a few of the many murders that the hard-working Houston homicide detectives have ostensibly solved over the past week.

It started out as just a fender-bender near 190 Meyerland Plaza on Saturday afternoon. George Theobald had crashed into the car of Brenda Romano of Yoakum, Texas and Robyn Romano, who lives in Houston. Police say the drivers got out to talk about the accident but then Theobald tried to run away before the cops could get there.

When the two Romano women tried to keep Theobald from fleeing, police say, Theobald allegedly got back into his car, threw the gear in reverse and backed up full-speed into them, pinning Robyn Romano between his car and hers. Theobald then allegedly ran over Brenda Romano as he drove off, police say. Brenda Romano, 56, died, and Robyn Romano suffered a broken leg.

On Sunday, police tracked Theobald, 39, down at the Western Inn Motel on the North Loop, where they arrested him on the charge of murder. Police say Theobald admitted to his role in the killing.

​There is something to be said about the importance of solid doors, strong locks and a secure home. Think not? Well, the carnage over the past several days may change your mind.

It was Friday evening, about 7 p.m., when 18-year-old Jubelle Serano was taking care of her 6-year-old sister at their home at 2539 South Camden Parkway. Suddenly, Serano heard some strange noises. Someone was trying to break into the house.

Serano quickly called her boyfriend, who sped over to Serano's place. When he got to the front door, no one answered. He dialed 911.

Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff's Office arrived, soon followed by Serano's father. When they entered the house together, they found that Serano had been shot to death.

At first, investigators didn't have much to go on. They talked to some neighbors who said they saw a pair of young guys around the area earlier that night. Remarkably, that was just enough for detectives to piece together a case.


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Among the annual must-see shows is Lawndale Art Center's "Retablo Exhibition." The show is winding down, with Saturday as its last day, so if you haven't seen it yet, get to it.

Dozens of Texas artists re-interpreted the Mexican tradition of retablos or devotional paintings for the show. The artists, including The Art Guys, Adrian de la Cerda, Gonzo0247, and Houston Press writer Kelly Klaasmeyer, produced work that runs from whimsical to cutting-edge. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. 4912 Main. For information, call 713-528-5858 or visit www.lawndaleartcenter.org. Free.

The first musical ever produced in the 30-year history of the University of Houston-Downtown, Ain't Misbehavin', is coming to a close on Saturday. The show celebrates the life and music of American jazz pianist and composer, Thomas "Fats" Waller, with a roster of songs that include "The Joint is Jumpin,'" "Honeysuckle Rose," and "Ain't Misbehavin'." Former UHD student Tony Glover is directing the musical and says that he's excited to be at the helm on the show. "What I really love is that the cast is non-traditional, because UHD and the UHD theater are non-traditional. We have created a show where everyone in the cast is a star," he's said. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. One Main Street. For information, call 713-221-8000 or visit www.uhd.edu. $5.

​Gotcha!

That's been the news so far this week from the police and sheriff's office, whose detectives have been clearing old cases and racking up arrests.

The Harris County Sheriff's office announced today that they've bagged a pair of dishonest drug dealers with a penchant for gunplay.

Back in August, a deputy was scouring the area near the 10200 block of State Highway 249 looking for drug dealers when he got a call over the police radio that there was a dead body lying in the middle of the freeway. It was a man named John Froehlich.

Investigators initially believed that Froehlich was trying to buy drugs when he began arguing with the dealer, who then shot Froehlich. But detectives now say they know what really happened in the wee hours that morning.

​No one likes being punished for something they didn't do. Even more so when the punishment is a series of deadly bullet wounds. But that's exactly what happened to Quincey Taylor, Houston police say.

A little more than three months ago, police got a call about a shooting that was happening at the Hollow Park Apartments at 2550 Joel Wheaton Road. When officers arrived, they found Taylor, 18, in a nearby grassy area. He had been shot to death several times.

Detectives began investigating and later learned that the apartment of a man named Kenneth Glass Jr. had been burglarized shortly before the shooting. Glass was pissed, police say, and wanted revenge.

courtesy of HPD

Moses Reed

​Houston police have closed the books on yet another homicide after tracking down the final suspect in a deadly carjacking.

Moses Reed, 17, was arrested last week and charged with murder for the July 15 slaying of 53-year-old Huu Khanh Phung. Detectives had previously arrested a juvenile on the same charge who was allegedly connected to the killing.

Police say that Phung was driving along in a silver Chevy Cobalt when he stopped at a red light at the intersection of Cullen and Alameda Genoa. That's when, according to witnesses, one of the teens hopped out of a minivan and rushed over to Phung's car. Several gunshots were heard, police say, and both the minivan and the Chevy were seen fleeing the area. Phung, who had been shot to death, was found lying in the middle of the street.

Reed is currently behind bars at the Harris County jail without bond.

Most killings, police say, are not as random as an arbitrary carjacking. The majority are between folks who know each other. And there were plenty of those last week.

​Less than a week ago, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt zipped off a news release proudly reporting that for the first time in memory there had been no reported murders in the city for 10 straight days.

"HPD's veteran Homicide investigators cannot recall a single week in the past decade without a murder in Houston," Hurtt said. "We welcome this lull in violent crime."

That lull -- stretching from October 10 through 20 -- is now over, and Houston residents are back to their normal, killing ways.

Like this little gem from over the weekend.

On Sunday at about 4:20 a.m., police were called out to an apartment on the 7700 block of Corporate Drive, where a man had allegedly shot and killed his son. Police say that Ofelio Otero, 40, had been drinking and began arguing with his wife over a video game that had gone missing. Otero then turned his wrath toward his 17-year-old son, Ignacio, and the two argued over the missing game.

​As the temperature slowly begins to dip, so too it seems that the number of murdered bodies found in and around Houston are fewer and fewer.

But that certainly doesn't mean there's no action for the police.

On Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m., a 37-year-old woman and her roommate began arguing in their home at 5504 Wipprecht Street. That quarrel soon turned into an all-out fight, police say, when the woman began assaulting her roommate. Fearing for her safety, the roommate grabbed a gun and called 911. But when the woman allegedly assaulted the roommate once again, police say, the roommate used the gun to allegedly protect herself, firing a fatal shot into the woman's head.

Police have not yet released the names of the two women but say the Harris County District Attorney's Office is looking at the case to determine if charges are warranted.

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​It was just before midnight on Friday when Houston police officer M.J. Marin looked up toward a second-floor balcony at the Cobblestone Apartments at 8435 Winkler. And what he saw was savage: a man plunging a knife into a woman.

Marin raced up to the apartment, police say, where he saw the knifeman at it again, this time turning the attention of his sharp weapon on a man, stabbing him repeatedly. Marin drew his gun and demanded that the man drop his weapon, police say, but he ignored the order. And just as the knifeman was about to drive his blade through the man once more, Marin fired, three times, killing the attacker.

It turned out, police say, that the guy with the knife was stabbing his girlfriend, when a man nearby who tried to help her was also attacked. He died at the scene. The girl was taken to the hospital and is expected to live, police say. The police have not yet released the names of any of the people involved.

As is customary in officer-involved shootings, HPD's Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County DA's office will investigate.

​Gotcha!

Houston police have finally caught the gunman in a 2004 murder, hunting him all across the United States and Mexico before arresting him Tuesday in Houston.

Police say that Oscar David Zamarripa, 24, shot and killed 22-year-old Alberto Rivera a little more than five years ago at 2215 Hollister. Detectives immediately figured out that Zamarripa was probably the killer and filed murder charges and issued a warrant for his arrest.

But Zamarripa proved to be a slippery one.

Since the shooting, investigators have been following Zamarripa's moves closely. They tracked him down to south Texas, Mexico, California and Utah, but each time Zamarripa stayed one move ahead.

courtesy of HPD

Melchor Izquierdo

​There is a hatchet-man killer hiding in Houston. The cops know who he is, but not where to find him.

Police are hunting for Melchor Izquierdo, 29, charged with murder in the slaying of Estevan Tellez back on September 14. Tellez, 42, who worked at a foundation business at 5562 Gasmer, was found dead by co-workers. He was sitting in the cab of a dump truck with several deep gashes in his face. A hatchet was lying nearby.

Detectives later determined that the alleged killer was Izquierdo, a fellow co-worker of Tellez. But Izquierdo has now disappeared. He has a slight build, police say, is missing a front tooth, has a puncture wound scar on the right side of his torso and another scar on his left shoulder.

While police chase down the alleged hatchet-man, they did catch up with and slap the cuffs on a different sort of fugitive -- one who had eluded detection for 24 years.

​On Thursday morning, Gwendolyn Guyton scared her husband for the last time.

She and Mitchell Johnson were arguing on the first floor of their home at 7050 Inwood when Johnson walked upstairs to get a few things in preparation to leave. It was then, police say, that Guyton decided to play the prank of a lifetime.

Guyton, 23, grabbed a loaded pistol and walked in on her husband, who was ironing his jeans. Then she fired, police say, fatally hitting Johnson, 28, in the stomach.

Guyton called the police and initially said the shooting was an accident. Later, police say, Guyton confessed to pulling the trigger, saying she had wanted to scare her husband.

Charged with murder, Guyton is currently in the Harris County jail held on a $50,000 bond.

​With all the shootings that happen in Houston every week, it's easy to forget that there are lots of other ways to kill people, too. Take the car, for instance.

On Monday, Harris County Sheriff's deputies filed murder charges against Cesar Gomez for allegedly running someone over intentionally.

Investigators say that Gomez, 21, and a few friends got into a fight with 16-year-old Rubelin Castro and his buddies on September 3. When Castro and his crew began walking away, Gomez, who was driving a white Ford van, jumped a street curb, drove through the yard of a home at the corner of Duckett Park Drive and Sutton Meadows Drive and intentionally ran over Castro, authorities say.

Detectives were later able to round up the passengers in the van, who identified Gomez as the wheel-man. Gomez has not yet been arrested and is a wanted man.
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Usually the cops make the call whether to charge someone with murder, but not always. There were a couple of shootings over the weekend that will require input from the Harris County District Attorney's Office and a county grand jury to decide if criminal charges are warranted.

The first involves a Houston police officer.

On Saturday night, police got a call after 49-year-old Gary Varner allegedly pointed a gun at his neighbors on the 8000 block of Turquoise, threatened to kill them, and then ran inside his home and chased his wife and son out of the house, police say. Varner then allegedly started firing off rounds inside his own place.

When an officer got there, Varner refused to surrender and go outside, instead choosing to barricade himself in the home, police say. Varner repeatedly ran up to his door to threaten the officer, police say, and then would return into the main part of his house and fire shots. At some point the SWAT team was called out and a hostage negotiator began talking to Varner over the phone. But at about 10:40 p.m., police say, Varner walked outside his front door, a laser-guided gun in his hand, and pointed the weapon at the SWAT officers. Senior Officer R.L. Kent then fired a single shot, killing Varner, police say.


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​Throughout history, the term "hatchet man" has meant different things. In the 1880s, it was slang for a Chinese hired assassin. In the mid-1900s, it was used to describe a journalist who assassinated the character of a public figure.

Today in Houston, it means something much simpler: someone who assassinates a man with a hatchet. And according to the Houston police, one of them is on the loose.

On Monday morning, several workers at a business park at 5562 Gasmer were in the parking lot when they stumbled upon a dump truck. Inside the truck's cab was a dead man. Police say his face had several deep gashes and that a hatchet was found by the body. Detectives believe the dead man, who was in his 40s, was the employee of a nearby business and that the body had been in the truck for several days.

Investigators say they have not come up with a suspect or motive yet.


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Police do, however, have a pair of suspects in a killing that happened Thursday night in a home at 8303 Bell Blossom Lane. Dorian Thomas and Chelsea White are both charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Fort Bend County for the death of Darrell Anthony Mouton.


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courtesy of HCSO

Sandra Martinez

​It may seem like it sometimes, but not all murders in Houston go unsolved.

Take, for instance, a case last Friday inside a home at 10727 Lumber Ridge Trail. Sandra Martinez and her husband, Cesar Barrera, had been arguing most of the night when at about 9:30 p.m. Barrera decided to go to bed.

Simple enough.

But then Martinez allegedly snuck into the closet, took Barrera's handgun and then put it to use. Investigators say Martinez, 36, shot her husband in the head while he lay in their bed.

Martinez was charged with murder after she admitted to killing Barrera, police say.

The cops nabbed another alleged killer this weekend when they arrested 17-year-old David Cooley. At about midnight on Saturday, patrol officers heard gunfire outside of Reed's Lounge at 4321 Reed Road and then saw two guys running away.
 

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​For the past four days, local cops and sheriff's deputies have been finding dead bodies all over the place. From ditches and cars to living rooms and the middle of streets, they seem to be popping up everywhere.

All the police have are just a few leads, no suspects, and a growing pile of cold bodies at the morgue.

On Monday at about 5:30 a.m., Harris County deputies found a Hispanic man who had been stabbed to death lying in a ditch just near 13100 Reeveston Road. He looked to be about 25 to 30-years-old and did not have an I.D. on him. Detectives are investigating.

Someone called the Houston police Monday afternoon to say they'd seen a dead body sitting in a car parked outside an apartment building. Sure enough, when the cops arrived at the Terrace Condominiums at 10555 Turtlewood Court, they found a man who'd been shot in the chest. Police think the man was shot two days earlier, when he was reported missing to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. There are no suspects.

​Some people simply don't have good timing.

Such was the case for 35-year-old Christina Stonebarger.

On Sunday, Stonebarger and her friend Michelle Stansel, 36, were hanging out in Stonebarger's room at a motel at 12600 South Main, where both women lived. For some reason, police say, the two friends started arguing at about 5 a.m. when suddenly Stonebarger grabbed a knife and plunged it into Stansel's chest, killing Stansel.

Stonebarger then fled.

As time clicked by, Stonebarger thought it might be safe to return home. How wrong she was. When she got back to her motel, the cops were there investigating the murder. It was an easy collar. Stonebarger was arrested and charged with murder, police say.

And speaking of bad timing, Joe Fernandes of Sugar Land picked the wrong moment to go shopping on Monday night.

​At 3 a.m. this morning, a Harris County Sheriff's deputy was prowling the streets around Bammel North Houston and State Highway 249 looking to nail some drug dealers. Driving along, suddenly he thought he saw a deal going down.

The deputy followed a suspicious car for a while, but when he tried to pull over the maroon Chevy Impala, the driver took off down Highway 249. Eventually, the driver stopped, jumped out of the car and ran away on foot, authorities say.

But wait, that's not all. After all, what would this blog be without a dead body, right?

​Damian Scott was restless. He woke up in his home at around 4:30 a.m. Friday, told his wife to go back to sleep and walked out to the garage. Then he hopped in his car, closed the door, turned on the engine and started watching a DVD.

The garage door was shut.

Back inside the house, at 10137 Inwood Hollow Lane, Scott's wife, Latrice Randle, her sister, Myshia Randle, and four children, were snug in their beds asleep. The silence was broken when a 7-month-old began crying. Myshia Randel rushed to its aid and saw that her sister's baby was having a seizure. She then went to get the baby's mother, who in turn went looking for her husband.

When she found him, police say, Scott was unconscious in the locked car. The carbon monoxide trapped inside the garage was too much for him. His wife tried to get him out, but she too lost consciousness. Police later found her passed out between two parked cars.

Meanwhile, Myshia Randel had called 911. By the time firefighters arrived, everyone in the home was out cold. The family was rushed to the hospital, where Scott was pronounced dead. The rest of the family revived and were in stable condition, police say. Scott's death was ruled an accident.

Courtesy of HCSO

Freddie Reyes & Hugo Lopez

​A man's music is sacred. Even more so when he's blasting it stone cold through a night of boozing it up with friends.

This is a lesson Turcious Villeda Marcial learned painfully well on Monday at 3043 Golfcrest when he was stabbed to death after telling his partying roommates to turn down the tunes at 8 a.m., police say.

Freddie Orlando Reyes and Hugo Salvador Lopez are charged with murder. Police say that the two men were drinking and playing music all Sunday night and into Monday morning when Marcial told them to dial the volume down. After all, he had to get up for work soon.

This request apparently did not sit well with Reyes and Lopez. Police say the two men argued with Marcial and then stabbed him in the back, neck and torso. Then they tied Marcial's wrists together to make it look like someone broke in and killed Marcial during a robbery, police say.

Both men admitted to stabbing Marcial, police say, and Reyes told investigators that he staged the fake robbery scene.

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​They say there's nothing so powerful as a father's love. Well, Leroy Lewis, Jr. is making a pretty good case for step-fathers, too. He may even go to prison for trying to prove it.

Lewis, 32, is charged with murder for allegedly shooting his step-daughter's boyfriend in defense of her, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Kedric Money, 19, the boyfriend, was chatting on his cell phone Monday afternoon at 21623 Trilby Way, investigators say, when he got into a fight with his girlfriend and began complaining that she was hitting him. At the same time, the girl's sister allegedly ran and told Lewis that Money and her sister were in a fight.

Lewis told the investigators that he put his gun away before confronting Money, but then went back, grabbed his gun and shot Money three times. Lewis is currently being held at the Harris County jail without bond.

​During the past few days, Houston-area police and sheriff's deputies have dealt with an unusually high number of murder-suicides. Sunday nearly capped off the week with another. This one, however, was thankfully less successful and had the added element of attempted patricide.

Eugene Hawk, 59, and his 21-year-old son, Raymond Hawk, were at their home at 3437 Ella Lee Lane on Sunday afternoon when they started arguing, police say. When the elder Hawk called police, his son yanked out a gun and began firing, shooting his dad several times, including in the head, police say.

By some miracle, Eugene Hawk was able to run out of the home and over to a neighbor's house to get help. He was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital and was in stable condition, police say.

When officers arrived at the Hawk home, they found the son laying on the floor, dead from an apparent suicidal shot to the head, police say. A gun was found at the site.

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​It was around 2:30 a.m. Sunday when Mayra Renteria called the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Her estranged husband, Tomas Carreon, had just walked into her parents home on the 19400 block of Tree Orchard Drive, where Renteria was staying, and began shooting. He killed her mother, Marina Schaerer, 42, father, Robert Schaerer, 49, and their son, Salvador Renteria Jr., 14, authorities say.

Carreon, 29, then fled.

Mayra Renteria told deputies what Carreon looked like and they broadcast the description over the police radio. As turned out, more than just deputies were listening. A tow-truck driver heard the news and spotted Carreon along the 19500 block of Clay Road. He flagged down a deputy, who then tried to detain Carreon near a day care center.

But it was not to be. The deputy claims he heard a single gunshot ring out and then found Carreon, dead from a blast to the head, behind a wooden partition. A semi-automatic pistol was lying next to Carreon's body, authorities say.

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​Laura Palacios of Houston died with her son at her side. Though it was hardly a comfort to the 51-year-old woman: It was her son who allegedly killed her.

That's the story told by Harris County Sheriff's homicide detectives who have charged Jose Palacios, 24, with murder. But he is not behind bars. Instead, he's believed to have fled south across the border into Mexico, eluding the relatively short arm of Texas law enforcement.

On August 3, detectives began investigating the death of a woman found badly burned inside a Chrysler 300 near a Harris County Flood Control retention pond near the 13600 block of Westpark. Five days later, the authorities pieced together enough evidence to charge Jose Palacios with killing his mom.

courtesy of HPD

The two suspected knife men

​Houston police are looking for a pair of men suspected of stabbing 22-year-old Vicente Ramirez to death early Saturday morning.

Police say Ramirez and some friends were at a bar at around 4:30 a.m. at 5901 Hillcroft when they got into a fight with a bunch of unknown men. During the fight Ramirez and his two friends were stabbed, police say. Ramirez died and the other two were taken to Ben Taub General Hospital so doctors could treat their multiple wounds.

The suspects were last seen in a white or tan-colored Toyota Corolla.

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​Did Houston police officer R.G. Gardiner shoot John Barnes on Saturday evening unnecessarily?

​You don't mess with a man's dog. Especially if that man is a cop.

At about 4:30 p.m. Friday, Houston police officer W.G. Smith made his way to an apartment complex at 7100 Renwick to check out a burglary that was supposedly going on. As Smith was heading up to the apartment, one of the people who lived there got home to find his TV was on, that his front window was broken and saw what he thought was someone inside his place, police say.

When Smith arrived at the residence, a man, who is believed to be the robbery suspect, was leaving the apartment through the broken window, police say. Smith and other officers ordered the man to get on the ground, but the man allegedly refused. Officers then sent a police dog into the patio area to help with the arrest. The man then yanked out a screw driver and tried to stab the dog, police say. Smith then charged in to the patio area, where he was stabbed, police say. Fearing for his life, Smith fired his gun, landing a fatal shot in the man's chest, police say.

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​After 15 long years, Houston police detectives believe they've finally found their man. Michael Deshawn Winfrey, 36, has been charged with capital murder for allegedly shooting a man who was protecting his son at a pay phone at 6603 Fuqua on April 24, 1994.

Police say Jeffrey Brown, 30, was driving along with his daughter, 8, and son, 7, when he pulled into a parking lot to use a pay phone. As he was stepping out of his car, Winfrey appeared and allegedly pointed a gun at Brown's son, telling the father to "give up his gold" or his son would die, police say. Brown leaned over in front of his son, protecting him, and pleaded with Winfrey not to hurt them. Winfrey then allegedly shot Brown and ran away.

The case remained unsolved for a decade and a half until detectives with the Scott Police Department in Lafayette, Louisiana contacted HPD earlier this month. Scott police had found a man who claimed he saw the shooting and could finger the killer along with other witnesses. HPD detectives went to Lafayette, interviewed the man and found many of Winfrey's friends. Police say the witnesses' accounts matched the evidence at the scene and that finally someone is being held responsible for killing Brown in front of his two young children.


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