2 young brothers killed after being hit by car

  ALVIN, TX (KTRK) -- A man and two children are dead after a late night accident in Brazoria County.

The two boys were with their father, pushing a disabled vehicle on County Road 144 near Alvin around 11:30pm when a vehicle ran into them.

The case took a strange turn for police when they discovered the man in car had been shot in the head.

As friends and family mourned Saturday, investigators swarmed the area, searching for answers -- anything to explain what happened.

"Nobody knows nothing but the people who were there, and two of them are gone," family friend Pete Villanueva III said.

According to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office, the Barajas family was driving home when they ran out of gas.

Deputies said 12-year-old David and 11-year-old Caleb helped their father, David Sr., push their truck home.

"Another vehicle came up behind them -- and, of course, this was in the dark, early hours -- and struck the vehicle from behind, striking all three," BCSO Criminal Investigator Dominick Sanders said.

David Jr. died instantly and Caleb died at an area hospital.

Their mother and sister were in the disabled truck at the time. They were not hurt, officials said.

David Sr., was injured and rushed to the hospital. He was recovering Saturday night.

The accident happened just 50 yards away from the family's home.

Deputies arrived at the scene and found the car that hit the Barajas family smashed on the side of the road. Jose Banda, 20, was slumped over in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound to the head.

He later died at an area hospital.

There's no word at this point if that Banda was shot before or after the accident. Investigators found no weapons nearby and they haven't identified any suspects in Banda's death.

"We don't want to jump to any conclusions at this point until we've done a thorough investigation," Sanders said.

This case remains under investigation. Please stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for updates.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

local

View the original article here

Brothers charged in connection with assault, robbery of one of their girlfriends

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two brothers have been charged in connection with assaulting and stealing money from one of their girlfriends.

On the night of May 6, court documents state Colin Vernon Smith asked his girlfriend where the cash was that she received from an auto accident settlement. She says when she told Colin Smith that he could not have the money, he became very angry, pushed her out of a chair, then grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head on the floor several times. The girlfriend alleges that he then hit her in the face twice.

After telling him that the money was in a dumpster in the hopes of getting him out of the Clear Lake area residence, she says Colin Smith called his brother, Justin Smith, who went to the dumpster to look for the strong box with the cash in it, but it was not there.

Investigators say Colin then told Justin to leave the residence, at which point Colin then hit his girlfriend and began to choke her. She says she finally relented and told him the money was in her child's toy box. She says Colin took the money and put it in a backpack.

According to court documents, the girlfriend says Justin, who police say was present when Colin took the month, told her he was sorry that his brother beat her up, but that he needed the money.

The girlfriend was treated at a hospital for a broken nose and other injuries, court documents show.

Colin Smith, 26, and Justin Smith, 24, are charged with aggravated robbery. No bond has been set in either case.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Get more Local »

local
// perform JavaScript after the document is scriptable.OTV.common.modules.promoCarousel.promoCarouselInit("/ktrk/xml?id=5758258&ptnr=promoCarousel");

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

View the original article here

Man charged with kidnapping 2 brothers appears in court

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man charged with kidnapping two young brothers over the weekend appeared in court this morning.

The 13 and 7-year-old boys vanished from their home on Timbercrest Village in north Harris County on Saturday.

Prosecutors allege a neighbor, Tony Guzman, kidnapped the brothers and drove them to a wooded area seven miles away. They were found safe the next day.

Guzman is also charged with possession of child pornography for inappropriate pictures of other children on his phone.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

local

View the original article here

HCSO: Missing brothers found safe

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Harris County Sheriff's Office says two missing boys have been located in Montgomery County.

Ishmael "Trey" Porrata, 13, is functionally autistic. He and his seven-year-old brother, Zachary Porrata, were last seen around 1pm Saturday in their neighborhood near Timbercrest Village Dr. and Kuykendahl Rd. in the Spring area.

According to officials, they were finally found Sunday evening near Treewood Village Apartments off Woodlands Parkway in Montgomery County.

HCSO investigators tracked down a neighbor who had been noticably absent since the boys went missing. That man told officials the boys approached him Saturday. He said the children were mad because they had been disciplined and they wanted to run away from home, officials said.

Sgt. Ben Beall with HCSO Homicide said the man decided to assist the boys and "show them how it is to live like a hobo."

The neighbor drove the children seven miles away to the apartment complex in Montgomery County. That's where deputies found them, hiding in the woods behind a dumpster.

Beall told us the brothers were taken back home to their mother and step-father. They appeared to be in good health with no injuries.

Their family had been upset and searching the area near their home for hours before bring in help from authorities late Saturday.

Officers knocked on doors Sunday in the neighborhood and and volunteers with Texas EquuSearch combed the surrounding wooded area on foot, horseback and with all-terrain vehicles. The Texas Department of Public Safety also sent a helicopter to search from the air.

About 80 people in all were working to find the boys.

Although extensive resources were used in the search effort, Beall said everyone is "ecstatic" the boys were found alive and well.

According to investigators, there does not appear to be any signs of abuse at the boys' home.

This case remains under investigation. The neighbor who drove the boys to Montgomery County could face charges.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

local

View the original article here

Twin brothers accused of raping underage girl

Isaac Gates, left, and Isaiah Gates are charged with sexual assault of a child under 17. The 19-year-olds are accused in the November rape of a then 16-year-old girl in west Harris County

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Twin brothers are accused of raping an underage girl.

Isaac and Isaiah Gates, both 19, are charged with sexual assault of a child under 17. Court documents state the incident happened on November 28, 2011 when the 16-year-old victim said she went behind a business off Memorial in west Harris County after agreeing to have sex with the twins. She then changed her mind and told the Gates that she needed to go home. The twins refused to allow her to leave, according to the girl.

Court documents show that's when one brother started to sexually assault her while the other one stood lookout in the alley. The brothers then switched places and the other brother sexually assaulted her.

The attack stopped when a passerby saw what was happening and scared off the men. The girl says she then called her mother to tell her what happened.

Police say the girl picked the Gates brothers out of a photo array.

Isaiah Gates is out on $20,000 bond. Isaac Gates is not in custody.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Get more Local »

local
// perform JavaScript after the document is scriptable.OTV.common.modules.promoCarousel.promoCarouselInit("/ktrk/xml?id=5758258&ptnr=promoCarousel");

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");

View the original article here

Mental exam for twin brothers who lived with corpse

  HOUSTON -- Doctors will be asked to do a mental evaluation on 48-year-old Houston twins charged with murder after they were found living with their 89-year-old mother's corpse.

Edward and Edwin Berndt are jailed today with bond set at $500,000.

The 48-year-old siblings were arrested Monday after officers found their elderly mother lying dead in the foyer of their home. The two were arraigned yesterday.

When police entered the home they found Berndt face down, her nightgown bunched up under her arms. The brothers told police their mother fell on Jan. 10 while they were watching a football game.

Police say the twins decided to leave her on the floor after she died because they allegedly didn't have money to bury her.

The mother apparently had $700,000 in the bank.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

View the original article here