Houston News

Thursday, September 27, 2012

City officials weigh in on officer-involved shooting of wheelchair-bound double amputee

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- City officials are now weighing in on the fatal shooting of a mentally and physically disabled man at the hands of police.

At the group home where the deadly shooting occurred is a note saying people inside would no longer talk about what happened over the weekend. But community activists are just beginning their crusade.

"I'm sick and tired of the same old thing from our police departments here in Houston. We want some action, we want the truth, we want the secrecy stopped. We want to see everything being done in this case, future cases, and past cases," said Arlene Kelly with Civilians Down.

Civilians Down is a local organization that focuses on police-related shootings. She and others with the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice called for an outside investigation into the shooting that killed wheelchair-bound double amputee Brian Claunch.

"Things do get dangerous, things do get stressful, but you have to stop and think, you have to use good judgement," said Sylvia Gonzalez with LULAC.

But at City Hall on Wednesday, elected officials asked for restraint. Mayor Annise Parker says for now she doesn't know exactly why a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officer wasn't on scene.

"I don't know why a CIT officer was not dispatched," said the mayor.

Council members pointed out the FBI is already monitoring the investigation, and they urged patience.

"Until an investigation is complete, we simply don't know what happened, and I would encourage us to, for the benefit of the victim's family, for the benefit of officers in our city, let investigations run their course," said Council Member C.O. Bradford.

The mayor said she has a meeting with Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland at the end of the week to further discuss the shooting.

Since the first of this year, there have been 22 officer-involved shootings in Houston. That's compared to 15 in all of last year. Of those 22 officer-involved shootings this year, ten suspects or citizens were killed, 13 were injured, and three officers were wounded.

houston police department, local, miya shay

View the original article here

Channelview teen accused of punching elderly man in the face

Jordan Lee Kitterlin, 18, is charged with injury to the elderly.

CHANNELVIEW, TX (KTRK) -- A high school student is accused of punching an elderly man in the face.

Court documents state on September 24 Jordan Lee Kitterlin struck the 69-year-old man in the face, knocking him to the ground. The man suffered a severe laceration to his right eye.

A witness observed the incident and police say the witness identified Kitterlin through a photo.

Kitterlin, 18, is a student at Channelview High School.

He is charged with injury to the elderly. Bond has been set at $5,000.

channelview, local

View the original article here

Mom: School let my son, 8, walk home alone

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A mother wants to know how her son, an eight-year-old who's been abducted by a family member before, was allowed to walk home alone without her knowledge.

On Tuesday afternoon, he walked from Highland Heights Elementary to his home on Homer Street. It's a distance of a nearly one-mile distance.

The school says the incident still under review but it's possible the little simply didn't follow instructions. But his mother contends that an eight-year-old who is new to the neighborhood shouldn't have been allowed to walk off.

Eight-year-old Christon Duncantel can give detailed directions home from school. They're directions his mother didn't even know he knew -- directions she wishes he never used.

"My child's life was compromised," Sheritta Hudson said.

Hudson planned on picking up the 3rd grader after his tutorial at Highland Heights Elementary Tuesday afternoon, but well before it was over, there was a knock at the door.

"All of sudden, I hear my grandmother yelling and my son was at the door and he's crying and puffy and red and I asked. 'How did you get home?' I asked him and he said he said I walked," Hudson said.

He walked almost a mile by himself around corners, down narrow streets and mostly with no sidewalks.

"It was a dangerous way," Hudson said.

Christon says the teacher told him he wasn't signed up for tutoring and that he needed to wait outside for his mother.

"I didn't know what to do," he said.

So the young boy just left and no one noticed.

"It raised no flag to say, hey there's a child walking," Hudson said.

Add it to what happened on August 8.

"My child was previously kidnapped," Hudson said.

And it makes Hudson even more anxious. HPD confirms they responded to reports that non-custodial family members took Christon without Hudson's knowledge. She says the incident is part of her son's file at school.

In response HISD says first administrators are reviewing what happened. That they were not made aware of any special circumstances before Tuesday and that they will continue the review to ensure proper protocol was followed.

They're not quite the answers Hudson was looking for. She remains nervous.

"So many things could have happened before he showed up at the door," Hudson said.

After we talked to the district, the mother says the assistant principal called her and told her the boy is now on the tutorial roster and that they've made special notes on his enrollment forms about his transportation and who is and isn't allowed to pick him up.

local, jessica willey

View the original article here

Historic Alief Cemetery now under maintenance of Harris County

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Houston area has some historic cemeteries that are badly in need of cleanup. Often it's done by neighborhood groups, but in Alief the job was just getting to be too much for volunteers.

So the county has stepped in to pay some tribute to the past and create a park-like space for the community.

Surrounded by traffic that passes by day and night is a reminder of what Alief once was -- a farming community founded on the fields southwest of Houston. And Alief Cemetery was its burial ground for pioneer families, with lives that bridged the 1800's and 1900's.

The hard life reflected in some of the markers and the ages at which they died.

Volunteers did what they could over the years. One man mowed it a bit at a time, day by day. A Boy Scout troop and students helped out, but more consistent attention was needed.

Over time, the cemetery was forgotten, but later rediscovered by Marie Lee.

"Where people threw their trash, where builders threw their old concrete, and it was just a big mess," said Lee, with the Alief Community Association.

She and other volunteers cleaned it up when they could, but the job required more than that. So their county commissioner took the Alief Cemetery on as a precinct project.

State law allows counties to maintain historic cemeteries without perpetual care. Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack decided Alief Cemetery qualified.

"You go from something that people are appalled by to something they take pride in," said Commissioner Radack.

On Tuesday, county crews mowed the grass, county inmates collected trash, and a survey was taken for a fence that will surround the cemetery.

For Ernest Kobs, a Precinct 3 employee, it's both a job and a labor of love.

"People have a fear of being forgotten and I want to make sure people are not forgotten," Kobs said.

There are ghost stories about the cemetery -- strange lights and tales of an apparition near the graves. That doesn't frighten Marie Lee. But if there are ghosts here, she hopes they'll appreciate what the living have done for the dead.

"They've got a good haunting place now. At least they can find where they want to go," Lee said.

It's the third cemetery project Precinct 3 has adopted. Radack sees it as creating a community asset which can serve as a park-like setting for neighbors.

The inmate labor is free. The only cost to the precinct is fuel to transport people and equipment.

alief, local, deborah wrigley

View the original article here

Houston Texans fan had high blood-alcohol level in fatal fall

HOUSTON -- A Texas coroner says the fan who fell to his death at the Houston Texans' stadium during a preseason game had a blood-alcohol level that was twice the legal limit for driving at the time of the accident.

The Harris County medical examiner's office said Tuesday that an autopsy determined that 25-year-old Jonathon Kelly of Houston died of multiple blunt-force traumas.

The autopsy also found he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16. The legal limit for driving in 0.08.

Kelly fell 60 feet from an escalator at Reliant Stadium on Aug. 31, during a preseason game between the Texans and Minnesota Vikings. Panicked witnesses called 911 and he was rushed to Houston hospital, where he died.

Medical examiner spokeswoman Tricia Bentley says the death was ruled an accident.

reliant stadium, houston texans, local

View the original article here

Fan who fell to death at Texans game at Reliant Stadium was legally drunk

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We have an update on a story we first told you about last month. A man who fell to his death at a Texans game was legally drunk.

The medical examiner says 25-year-old Jonathan Kelly had a blood alcohol content of .16. That's twice the legal limit.

Kelly fell 60 feet to his death in the Texans final preseason game August 30 at Reliant Stadium. Eyewitnesses say he and some friends were riding the escalators handrails when he lost his balance.

The medical examiner ruled Kelly's death as accidental and says he died of multiple blunt force injuries.

reliant stadium, houston texans, local

View the original article here

Fire destroys clothing store near downtown

Firefighters say they were able to put out the flames as soon as they arrived and that they also saved their Union Hall in the process.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A fire destroyed a clothing store north of downtown Houston early this morning.

Flames destroyed the 7-1-3 INC store on North Main near Henry just before 3am. The store is attached to the Houston Firefighter Department's Union Hall, but it was not damaged by any flames.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

local

View the original article here

Thursday, September 27, 2012

infolinks