Woman found shot to death inside running SUV in SW Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston police may have a hard time solving a woman's murder. She was gunned down behind the wheel of her SUV, and there are few clues as to what may have happened.

The woman was found dead along Birdwood near Renwick in southwest Houston late Thursday night. She was killed just a couple of blocks away from her apartment complex, and the murder has her friends and neighbors very concerned right now.

Friends are leaving stuffed animals and balloons, building a small roadside memorial in memory of a woman who was shot and left to die.

"She was great," said Kim Ortiz, a friend of the victim. "She was funny, friendly."

Ortiz says the 29-year-old victim was her best friend. Police say the woman was driving her SUV when an unknown person shot her in the head on the 5400 block of Birdwood around 11pm Thursday. Several neighbors woke up to the commotion.

Neighbor Lew Williams said, 'Heard three shots, very loud. It sounded like it was bang... and then bang, bang."

Investigators say the victim wasn't robbed. And they're speculating road rage could have played a part in this murder. The woman's friends just want some answers.

"She was trying to get back on her feet," Ortiz said. "She was bettering herself. She was going to school."

Police believe the victim backed her SUV off the street and onto a field trying to escape the gunman. A neighbor passing by found her dead behind the wheel. Several witnesses told police they saw a black Tahoe speeding from the scene after the shooting.

"I hope that if somebody knows that person or knows what happened, they could say something. Because we're all wondering," Ortiz said. "We all just want to know something. Something needs to be done. Justice needs to happen."

Officials have not yet released the victim's name. Investigators are canvassing the neighborhood and looking for surveillance video.

Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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Mother and daughter found dead inside SW Houston home

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We have an update on the murder of a mother and daughter in southwest Houston. The alleged gunman told his family he'd taken care of some "unfinished business."

The 35-year-old mother and her 13-year-old daughter were found shot to death yesterday in their home on Jetty near Kirkwood at around 2:45pm.

The suspect's family told police he has a violent history and they were alarmed by his comment and the fact that he had a gun on him. They immediately went to the home and discovered the bodies.

Police say the woman is the suspect's ex-girlfriend, but he is not the father of the child. The suspect is in custody.

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Harris Co. Attorney to testify before grand jury investigating possible wrongdoing inside Victor Trevino's office

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There's a surprise in that criminal probe of Victor Trevino's constables office.

Through our sources, 13 Undercover has learned the grand jury has now subpoenaed the testimony of another high-ranking public official. It's Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan. He's been told to appear Friday morning under oath. What we don't know is what the grand jury wants to ask the guy elected to be the county's ethics watchdog.

Just last week, 13 Undercover had tough questions for the County Attorney Vince Ryan.

"Is the end game protecting Victor Trevino?" we asked Ryan.

"Of course not," he said.

Now sources tell us the grand jury probing the constable has questions for Mr. Ryan too.

"The bottom line is you ran for public office as the ethics watchdog for this county," we told Ryan.

"I think the ethics are being much more cautiously observed by county officials," he said.

But we've been fighting for months for the voters' right to know.

Documents we have show Ryan's office had about reports of mismanagement and possible criminal wrongdoing in Precinct 6 months before the May primary. There was even a final internal investigative report done by this county lawyer for Vince Ryan. But the watchdog won't make it public. Trust me, we've tried to get it.

"You issue your Doug Ray document in its entirety and let the public see everything Vince Ryan knew before the election, that he didn't think the voters had a right to see," we told Ryan.

"I think that would be inappropriate," Ryan said.

"Really?" we said.

"Yes it would."

"You could do it tomorrow," we said.

Emails from Ryan's office acknowledge at least some of the revelations could be "the source of high embarrassment" and "black eyes for the justice system."

Ryan says he has a right to keep what he learned a secret because he's the county's lawyer, even from the county judge. Trevino was re-elected in May. Now it's Ryan who faces voters in November.

"He covered up wrongdoing that he was aware of and chose to look the other way. Instead of being the watchdog that he should be, he's a lapdog," said Robert Talton, Ryan's opponent in the November election.

We don't know from our sources if Ryan has been told to bring the report he won't show you to show them. The county attorney says his office has done a lot to clean up the constables' operations; he has given some records to the DA but not the final report of his investigation.

Just last week it was Constable Trevino on the hot seat.

"Do you expect for there to be an indictment?" we asked attorney Chip Lewis.

"I don't think the grand jury will see anything on the lines of Constable Trevino personally enriching himself, but as they are still working through the process, we are not going to to comment on the issues before them," Lewis said.

We also know from the courthouse that a grand jury subpoena for a sitting county attorney is very rare. We will be watching the developments for you Friday morning.

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FBI searching for men who robbed bank inside Walmart

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The FBI needs your help finding two bank robbers.

New surveillance pictures have been released of the robbery suspects from the Woodforest Bank inside a Walmart on Tomball Parkway near Antoine.

Investigators say the men entered the bank Wednesday morning and threatened the teller. They left with some cash, and no one was hurt.

Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for any information called in to the 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submitted online at http://www.crime-stoppers.org/ that leads to the filing of felony charges or arrest of the suspect(s) in this case. Tips can also be sent by text message. Text TIP610 plus your tip to CRIMES (274637). All tipsters remain anonymous.

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Two men sought for setting bar on fire while patrons were barricaded inside

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two men were caught on camera last week setting fire to an east Houston bar while patrons were barricaded inside.

Luckily, everyone was able to escape uninjured, but those two alleged arsonists are still on the run.

On April 19, authorities say two Hispanic males were removed from a bar located on the 8000 block of Harrisburg. Surveillance video of the incident was released and you can see a man wearing white shorts with the name 'Mata' tattooed on his back, grabs a piece of wood, closes the burglar door to the bar, then wedges the wood between the front door and ground.

The surveillance video was taken at the East End bar, shortly after the two men in the video were kicked out for fighting. Investigators say they left to buy a can of gasoline from a Conoco station, then returned. After barricading the door, they went to the back door, doused the building with fuel, and set it on fire.

Neighbor Herbert Salinas saw the aftermath.

"I just see the fire truck and ambulance and that's it," said Salinas.

Investigators say the man in the white shorts is Jaime Mata, who's been charged with felony arson. Eyewitness News went to his listed address, but nobody was home. Neighbors say he does look familiar.

"We just wave to them, trying to be friendly," said Andy Salazar

Investigators say the second man in the video goes by the nickname 'Pepe,' but he has not been identified. At the time of the offense, he wore blue shorts with no shirt, displaying a number of distinctive tattoos.

Both Mata and the second suspect remain at large.

The bar itself is currently closed. That's an unusual sight for Salinas, who says it's often open very late.

"Sometimes four or five o'clock in the morning, the place is still open. I don't know what they're doing in there," Salinas said.

Customers at the bar were able to safely evacuate through a third exit, and no injuries were reported.

Anyone with information about the identity of the unknown suspect, or the location of the charged fugitive is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

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Woman found shot to death inside vehicle

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A puzzling murder near the Galleria area. A woman was found shot to death inside her car near her Galleria area townhome. It appears Houston police still have a lot of unanswered questions.

At age 29, Gelareh Bagherzadeh was looking to the future. A UT Health Science Center student, she was studying molecular technology at MD Anderson Hospital. All that ended with a gunshot through her car window as she was driving through her townhouse complex on Augusta near Candlewood at around midnight.

"I thought two shots, I heard bang, bang. I thought I was dreaming, but evidently I wasn't," said neighbor Steve Markham. "I thought it was fireworks, maybe. But I really thought it was a dream."

Her car kept driving forward, even as she was slumped over the wheel, going through a garage door. By the time police arrived, the tires had rubbed down to the steel tread. Bagherzadeh was pronounced dead.

Police say the last person to hear her voice was her former boyfriend, now said to be her best friend, who was talking to her on her cell phone when it happened.

"Hon-hon, cause that's what she called him, and then he heard a loud thud. He doesn't recall hearing any gunshots, but a loud thud and then a screeching noise," said Richard Bolton with HPD Homicide.

The friend to whom she was talking did not want to speak publicly, neither did her family as they are understandably in shock.

The mystery is who would do this and why. Nothing of value was taken from her car -- police say the victim's purse and phone were found inside; and why did she turn on a dead-end drive on the opposite side of the complex where she lived?

"We don't know why she ended up back there on the back end; maybe they only lived here for a short time, maybe she's unfamiliar with the property, because from what we understand from friends and relatives is she always parks on the street in front of her townhome," said Bolton.

It's believed that whoever did the shooting was standing outside a car. The screeching that was heard could have been her own car tires.

Police want to talk to her current boyfriend. Investigators have retrieved surveillance tape from security cameras on the townhomes, hoping it will reveal some clues.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Hidden camera inside Pct. 1 sheds light on probe

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- 13 Undercover gets a hidden camera inside a Houston constable's office and wait till you hear what they said when they didn't know we were listening.

The FBI has made the arrests, and now 13 Undercover has the video even the feds haven't seen.

Long before the FBI moved in, 13 Undercover was already watching Precinct One by surveillance of deputies using our hidden cameras. And we got an earful. We want to warn you, too. Some of the language here may not be right for kids.

Let's take a trip downtown, headquarters -- Precinct One Constable Jack Abercia. Wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on their wall? You can, thanks to our 13 Undercover hidden camera.

"This man is gonna stand so far back from that s*** like he didn't know what the f*** was going on," Michael Butler says on hidden camera.

That's the second in command, Chief Deputy Michael Butler, and this was recorded back in October. We were already knee-deep in our investigation of constables -- Victor Trevino, May Walker. Let's just say at Precinct One, they worried they might be next.

"You think Jack Abercia is going to go on f****** camera? Are you nuts? Are you f****** nuts?" Butler says on hidden camera.

Abercia did say no, but we were there just minutes after he turned in his retirement papers this month.

"I don't have nothing to say to y'all at all. Y'all trying to burn somebody that don't need to be burned," Abercia told us.

"I resent the hell out of you," he told us.

"What did I do?" we asked.

"You talk too much that's not true," he said.

But we had only reported the FBI was investigating Abercia's office for alleged bribery in the hiring of a deputy named Alan James.

"They can do what they want. I haven't done nothing that I'm afraid of ever coming out," Abercia said.

James was hired even after a Precinct One review committee said he should not be given a badge and gun. The constable now blames Chief Butler.

"That was his problem. I told him I didn't want him," he said.

Abercia denies he got a penny for the James hiring, but last week, both the constable and the chief were in handcuffs, charged with accepting bribes in the James case.

Long before FBI moved in for the arrest, we'd already been watching Precinct One for months -- the possible misuse of deputies, county equipment. Listen closely as the chief deputy is questioned by a Precinct One deputy about the integrity of the guy in charge.

"Can Jack Abercia go on TV and say I'm not a crook?" the deputy asks Butler on hidden camera.

"No, he can't, he can't say that. He can't say that," Butler replies.

And wait for it. Here comes the punch line:

"Let me ask you this question: Are there nuts in a Snickers?" Butler adds, then laughs.

We told the constable how they talk about him behind closed doors.

"I haven't done anything, Wayne. I ain't done anything. I know they have all things that we can take pictures of everywhere but I just don't stoop like that at all and I'm not a crook," Abercia said.

It's a denial chief Butler had predicted Abercia would make long before that FBI trouble began.

"He was your right hand guy," we told Abercia.

"Well, I would challenge him to a polygraph. I would, 'cause Wayne, I don't do those things. My mother didn't bring up a fool," he replied.

Chief Butler is now gone from Precinct One. He turned in his badge just days after FBI agents showed up at his house asking about possible bribes. And the constable, he got out days later.

"Is Michael Butler a crook?" we asked Abercia.

"I'm not going to answer that question. I knew something was wrong," he said.

And Michael Butler had predicted what Abercia would do if the trouble ever came.

"He gonna be up out of here, son. It'd be every man for themselves," Butler says on hidden camera.

Tuesday, our hidden cameras follow some of the constable's men. Were they getting paid to be high-priced errand boys?

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more 13 Undercover »

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Car stolen with baby inside in Pasadena

  PASADENA, TX (KTRK) -- A pickup truck with a baby inside was stolen Saturday night in Pasadena. The child has been recovered, but officials said the thief still has the truck.

According to officials, a 10-month-old girl was in the back seat of her mother's pickup when it was stolen Saturday night from their driveway in the 2700 block of Harvard at Preston near Pasadena Blvd.

The baby was soon found unharmed. The suspect dropped her off in a car seat on the side of the road in the 100 block of N. Witter near Strawberry Health Center, officials said.

Police are still searching for the suspect and the stolen vehicle -- a 2008 four-door Chevrolet Silverado with license plate number 20L-VV9. The truck has 21-inch chrome rims and blue halogen lights.

Anyone who sees the vehicle is asked to call Pasadena police.

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Woman found dead inside vehicle in SW Houston

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police want answers in the death of a woman in southwest Houston.

A neighbor walking his dog noticed the woman dead inside a vehicle on Hodges near South Main earlier this morning.

Detectives say the woman had been shot several times. There were also bullet holes in the windshield and bullet casings near the vehicle. It will be up to the medical examiner to identify the woman.

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