Results tagged “homicide”

You may have heard the various stories about the possibility of a fatality connected to Sunday's implosion of the Crowne Plaza hotel in the Medical Center. So far, the Chronicle reports that someone may have sneaked into the hotel before the demolition, KHOU reports that Medical Center workers say they saw someone enter the building just before demolition and possibly closed a door (on the video), KTRK has a blurry close-up of the aforementioned door,...

Good morning, Houston. You might want to grab a drink before you get started on this morning's news: According to KHOU, a shift toward growing corn in Mexico could lead to a spike in the price of tequila. It seems a lot of Mexican farmers are getting rid of their blue agave fields to make way for corn, which is in demand thanks to the growing popularity of ethanol — and as the amount...

We talked yesterday about the body parts that were found in northwest Harris County in the past few days — remember, homicide investigators initially thought the decomposed parts (two hands and a foot) belonged to a human, but later they discovered they were actually bear parts. So, case closed, right? Well, it still leaves the question of where the bear came from and what it was doing so close to Houston. And so far, no...

Well, here's something to be proud of: Houston's homicide rate is now the second-highest among large American cities, according to FBI figures released Monday. Keep in mind that this is the homicide rate we're talking about — Houston's was 18.2 per 100,000 residents last year, putting us second only to Philadelphia and ahead of Dallas (fifth place), which has had a higher homicide rate than Houston for each of the last 11 years. The numbers...

More people made it through last month in Houston than last April, according to unofficial HPD statistics. This April recorded 30 homicides, compared to last year's 31. That brings the 2007 total to 119, also down from last year's 123. Within that number, only about 2 each month involved Katrina evacuees, compared to the 20% of last year's total number. But every silver lining has its dark cloud. While the number of homicides has decreased...

Good morning, Houston! Looks like we're far from the only people enjoying the bliss that is freedom from telemarketers: According to the AP, almost 25 million phone numbers were added to the federal do not call list in fiscal 2006, bringing the total ... uh ... number of numbers on the list to 132 million. And amazingly enough, it's working: The percentage of complaints last year was small, and the FTC has taken enforcement...

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he's just a little dirty, and in a completely different way than some NYC kitchens. SFist had its share of misbehave-rs, too, like...

The latest development in the murder of Texas A&M student Tynesha Stewart: Yesterday, Harris County sheriff's officials announced that they will not search area landfills for her body, saying that finding the body would be "virtually impossible." Meanwhile, sheriff's investigators did finally get a confession from Stewart's ex boyfriend, Timothy Wayne Shepherd, who on Wednesday had led police to a Dumpster where he told activist Quanell X he disposed of Stewart's body after killing her....

We rang in 2007 with a mixed message about Houston's crime rate: Though the homicide rate reached a 12-year high in 2006, instances of other crimes decreased last year. Today, thanks to KTRK's mystical Crime Tracker, we know a little more about exactly how those stats break down — and in short, things are better in the notorious Fondren/southwest district, but not so good on the east side. The Crime Tracker found that the Fondren...

With over a year elapsed since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still dealing with the aftermath of the storm. Despite efforts to rebuild, according to statistics reported by the nation's top three moving companies, more people moved out of the area than moved in last year. The city's population seems to have stagnated at around half it's pre-Katrina 455,000, falling far short of Mayor Ray Nagin's prediction of 300,000 by the end of last year....

Police are investigating two shootings downtown early this morning, one a drive-by on the south end of downtown and another a mysterious incident near a construction project in the Second Ward. The drive-by happened at about 2:30 a.m. outside a bar at Milam and Pease. A group was walking out of the bar when a black Hummer drove up and someone in the vehicle opened fire on the victim, a young woman. Officials said the...

Looks like as long as you can keep from winning the lotto, you can also keep from getting killed. Last month, the city recorded only 24 homicides, down 20 percent from January 2006. Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said that he attributes the decline to HPD's heavy targeting of several hot spots in the city, but indicated that the cold weather might have had something to do with the decline as well. Hurtt hopes to...

Houston's 2006 crime statistics were announced yesterday, and there's some good news: The city's overall crime rate fell 5 percent last year, meaning you're less likely to be robbed, raped, assaulted or have your car stolen. But while we're patting ourselves on the back, we might want to be a little careful we don't get murdered: Houston's homicide rate increased by 5 percent last year. Around every silver lining, there's a dark cloud. According to...

So we're beginning 2007 with a grim statistic: The murder rate in Houston jumped 13.5 percent last year, far more than the 1.4 percent increase nationally and representing a 12-year high in the city's homicide numbers. Houston totaled 379 homicides in 2006, up from 334 in 2005 and approaching the all-time high of 419 in 1994. And according to the AP, Mayor Bill White is blaming the increase in part on Katrina evacuees: "We did...

Looking for something different to do on New Year's Eve? Houstonist will bring you some ideas over the next couple of days - starting with Keith & Margo's Murder Mystery - New Year's Eve Celebration - at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown. There are two packages available for the evening - the Basic and the Deluxe. The Basic Package - priced at $279/couple includes an Hors D'Oeuvres Reception, one glas of wine, two glasses of champagne...

The recent driveby at Westbury High School and the stabbing of one Lamar student by another in Ervan Chew park in June aren't just isolated incidents, it seems. It's looking more and more like they're a trend, and a troubling one at that: both the numbers of teenage homicide victims and the numbers of felony-level violent crimes commited by teens are up significantly over last year. Thirty three juveniles have been victims of homicide through...

More on last week's drive-by shooting of a Westbury High School student: Now we know who the two suspects in the crime are, but no one's sure where they are — not even one of the suspects' fathers. The guys wanted in the shooting are Augustin Miguel Marquez (left) and Aldo Aguilar Ramirez, both 17. Police say they were the ones who drove past Julian Ruiz and a group of his friends standing outside the...

A 16 year old Westbury High School student was gunned down in a reportedly gang-related drive by shooting this morning, between 8:35 and 8:40 a.m. in the 5400 block of Dryad, adjacent to the Westbury campus, reports the Chronicle. The student was transported to Ben Taub Hospital, where "he died on arrival,'' said Evelyn Flouri, of the homicide division of the Houston Police Department. Police were not releasing the victim's name. Police told HISD superintendent...

The couple who called the cops the night of the infamous Two Gallants show at Walter's on Washington spoke to the Chronicle this weekend: Ryland and Scott Peveto, who own a Victorian shotgun house behind the club, say that the bass from Walter's is shaking their house — and their peace of mind. The Pevetos said when they bought the house a couple of years ago, noise wasn't much of an issue; now, though, the...

Remember last week's SWAT standoff at an apartment complex when police were searching for a murder suspect and ended up finding a spaced-out woman in a housecoat instead? Well, the cops finally caught up with one of the suspects in the murder of Brandon Dean — and they caught him napping. Literally. Here's the report from KTRK: Crime Stoppers got a tip that Billy Joe Whiteside was sleeping in an SUV at the corner of...

A city dump truck driver crashed into a car, injured two people and killed another yesterday morning — apparently because he lost control of his truck, the Chronicle reports. The driver was trying to turn from Atascocita Road onto Will Clayton Parkway at around 11 a.m., but the truck kept going on Atascocita, hitting a Jeep Cherokee and the two workers who were building a handicap ramp at the intersection. According to KHOU, the Harris...

Well, here's something to be proud of: Houston's 2006 homicide rate is on track to be the highest in more than 10 years. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 16, HPD recorded 316 homicides, up 25 percent over the same period last year — an increase police blame in part on Katrina evacuees: "We recognize that the homicide rate is up as far as raw numbers and as well as percentages relative to the population,'' said...

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. Chicagoist had fall on their mind as they made squash and fudge, read "House of Leaves" and ">tried to figure out what's next for the Cubs. Not fall related, but still of utmost concern, the whole skinny black pants thing. Torontoist fought off an evil scourge of raccoons and went to go see who would...

Antonio WIlliams, a man police call "a new breed of killer," will appear in court today for his alleged role in at least seven murders in three months. Williams, 26, is charged or suspected in the string of killings that police say are rooted in a war between Houston drug dealers and rivals from New Orleans. Police say Williams' string of murders started June 16, 23 days after he got out of jail, where he...

So it's really hard to dispute that Clara Harris ran over and killed her husband, David, in a Nassau Bay hotel parking lot in 2002 — the whole thing was caught on video by a detective firm Harris had hired after her husband confessed to having an affair. But what Harris, who is serving a 20-year sentence for murder, hopes is that she can dispute the quality of her defense during her 2003 trial. Harris...

The recent spate of gang violence in Houston, much of it related to the violent gang MS-13, has convinced the Houston Police Department and the FBI to take action. The number of gang-related crimes in the first half of 2006 is up more than 5 percent from that number in 2005, reports KHOU, with an increase of over 92 percent in the number of murders. The new initiative will include 10 FBI agents, as well...

You too, savvy reader, are asking the age-old question: do we REALLY need another "crime procedural"? At this point, with the possible exception of usually-creative Law and Order: SVU, they're all alike. After all, if you've seen the telltale DNA evidence of one mad muderer, you've seen 'em all, right? TNT's The Closer, now in its sophomore season, may not aspire to change all that. Nevertheless, it manages to be entertaining television, anchored by a...

Fed up with what they claim is incompetent leadership by HPD Chief Harold Hurtt, the Houston Police Officers' Union has asked its members to rate Hurtt's competency. The rating will be done through a mail survey that was recently sent to 4,700 HPD officers, with the main question being whether Hurtt is able to run the department. In a statement on the union's website, President Hans Marticiuc said the survey has been several months in...

The death of 23-month-old Stephanie Garcia during a carjacking Tuesday night has gotten a lot of media attention, and it's getting the attention of city authorities, too: The Chronicle reports today that police are questioning three people in connection with the incident and have assigned up to 20 people in the homicide department to the investigation. Garcia was killed when two gunmen tried to rob her dad, Luis Adrian Garcia, as he used a pay...

Staring this weekend, HPD officers will be on 24-hour patrol at five southwest Houston apartment complexes identified as crime hotspots, part of Mayor Bill White's plan to go after "unacceptable" crime rates in that part of town. At last 10 uniformed officers will be stationed at apartment complexes in the 3700 block of Hillcroft, the 8000 block of Creekbend and the 8100, 8900 and 10700 blocks of Fondren, KHOU reports. HPD has never done this...