Houston, Texas (KTRK) – A 38-year-old man was arrested and charged Wednesday morning after a father was shot and killed, and the victim’s child was found dead inside a stolen SUV less than 24 hours ago in southwest Houston.
Police said the man is facing murder and tampering with evidence.
The Houston Police Department said the suspect’s name and photo of custody would be issued once charges are filed in court.
ABC13 was the only crew to arrest police who detained someone who matches the description of a man seen in the surveillance video shortly after the body of a two-year-old was found. The arrest took place around 5 a.m. in an apartment complex down the street from the original shooting scene, in the 5500 block of El Camino Del Rey and Chimney Rock.
By Wednesday afternoon, police confirmed that an ABC13 video showed the man that investigators were looking for in connection with the fatal shooting.
ABC13 showed neighbors photos of the man who police say was linked to the crime, and they recognized him.
“Yes, that’s it over there. That’s his car over there,” said Lewis Burley, a neighbor.
It all connected to a fatal shooting that took place on Tuesday around 1:45 p.m. when police responded to what they said was an apparent disturbance between two men, which led to an altercation.
During the altercation, one of the men took out his pistol and shot the other man, also 38, several times in the chest. Police said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect took off in the victim’s SUV, which was described as a black Chevrolet Traverse or Equinox with a paper license plate.
A woman was at a nearby gas station when she heard the shooting. She said she saw the victim fall to his death.
“He was stumbling and in pain,” she said.
Hours after the shooting, at 6:36 p.m., police said they received a missing persons report from a woman who said her husband and two-year-old child were missing.
She provided a description that matches the SUV that the police were searching for in connection with the fatal shooting.
“We quickly realized that (the victim from the original scene) was her husband,” HPD CEO Larry Satterwhite said. “We didn’t know anything about the baby until she called at 6:36 p.m.”
About 30 minutes later, investigators found the stolen car at the 5900 block of Elm Street with a two-year-old trapped inside.
Satterwhite said officers broke the car’s windshield and immediately tried to provide assistance, but the child was pronounced dead by the time the ambulance arrived.
Investigators believe the child died of heat exhaustion because he may have been in the car since about 2 p.m., and an autopsy will confirm the cause of death.
Burley said the man identified by the police as a VIP would be hanging out in the area.
Another neighbor, Alia Leday, claims that the man lived in his car and worked in security at the apartment complex.
“I was shocked,” Laday said. “I’ve spoken to this man before.”
“She lost her mother-in-law, she lost her two-year-old (Tuesday),” Satterwhite said. “We need your help.”
It is unclear whether the suspect and the shooting victim knew each other.
Watch: HPD briefs reporters at the scene of a deadly shooting in southwest Houston
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