Tuesday, November 30, 2010

NW Houston apartment complex burns


Flames gutted at least four apartments and damaged several others Monday evening after a fire broke out at a northwest Houston complex, officials said.
Thick clouds of smoke poured from a downstairs apartment about 7:15 p.m. when Houston firefighters pulled into the Willowchase Apartments in the 8300 block of Willow Place South, HFD officials said.

Despite early reports that someone might be trapped inside one of the apartments, an initial search by firefighters indicated that wasn't the case, officials said.
The fire was brought under control within about 45 minutes. There are no official reports of any injuries, although HFD officials at the scene were checking reports that someone might have gone to the hospital by private car.

Joe Felix and his family returned to the apartments after dinner to find the street in front of the complex blocked by several fire trucks.
"We wondered what happened. It's very concerning," Felix said.
Felix was greatful that his apartment escaped any damage but was worried about his neighbors.

"You don't want anything to happen to anybody — especially during the holidays," Felix said.


The building that caught fire has 12 units — of which 10 were occupied, HFD officials said.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Candlelight vigil held for teen crash victims



T.J. Aulds / The Daily N

Galveston County Daily News website
DICKINSON, Texas — Hundreds of teenagers packed under a carport and stood in the street outside a classmate’s Dickinson home Monday for a candlelight vigil to mourn the loss of the 17-year-old and her sister.

Maria Guadalupe Castillo and her sibling Mayra Jaramillo Castillo, 22, died in a fiery crash in Webster early Sunday morning when the truck they were riding in slid off the interstate before slamming into a groves of trees and bursting into flames.

"I don’t know; I still think they are going to walk in (to the house)," Claudia Castillo, 24, Maria and Mayra’s older sister, said.

Claudia called her sisters "fun loving" and loved by all that knew them. They were the middle sisters in a close-knit family of five girls, their parents and dozens of cousins.

The family lives together in a collection of trailers just outside the Dickinson city limits.

Maria was a junior at Dickinson High School where she was a former class president, a member of the National Honor Society, a member of the soccer team and a student mentor in the school’s PALS program, Claudia said. The 17-year-old also worked at a local hotel as a front desk clerk, her older sister said.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

HPD: Good Samaritan killed in gas station robbery near Meyerland



by khou.com staff
khou.com

Posted on November 11, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Updated today at 9:03 AM

HOUSTON—A good Samaritan was killed early Thursday trying to stop a purse-snatcher at a southwest Houston gas station, according to police.
Police said a woman pulled up to the Chevron gas station on Beechnut at the West Loop Freeway around 12:30 a.m. She walked up to the exterior window to make a purchase when a man with a gun ran up and snatched her purse.
A male customer who witnessed the robbery got out of his red Nissan pickup truck and tried to help the woman.
The suspect shot the man once in the head and fled the scene with the woman’s purse. The victim was taken to Ben Taub hospital, where he later died.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Relatives questioned in beating death of NW Houston woman


HOUSTON – Authorities were questioning two people Saturday night after an elderly woman was found beaten and strangled in her northwest Houston home.
Police said officers arrived at a home near the intersection of Candlemist and Marcella around 10:00 p.m. and found 86-year-old Mildred Johnson lying dead, face down on the floor.

Gary Thompson, the victim’s nephew, was the first to find Johnson. He said his aunt lived a long life and he was heartbroken by how she was killed.
"Her face looked like a pancake, like they stomped her," said Thompson. "Then, I saw the cord around her neck which told me someone had strangled her."
Family members said they did not see the woman’s car and noticed a bunch of her belongings were missing, including a flat screen TV.

READ THE FULL STORY AT KHOU HERE

Monday, November 1, 2010

Houston murders may be work of a serial killer


by Michelle Homer / khou.com
khou.com
Posted on November 1, 2010 at 1:38 PM
Updated today at 1:42 PM


HOUSTON – Police are looking into a possible link between the strangulation murders of at least three women since June.
The most recent cases involved homeless women. The body of Carol Flood, 62, was found on Oct. 10 in a stairwell behind the old YMCA building. She was partially nude. On Sept. 30, Retia LaFaye Long, 52, was found dead behind the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 1700 San Jacinto.

Now police believe the same killer may have strangled Raquel Mundy last June 17, then dumped her body in a field in the 300 block of St. Charles.
Mundy, 24, was murdered after accepting a ride from a stranger when she was stranded downtown.

She had dropped her mom and two kids off at the Greyhound bus station downtown around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. She then discovered her car had been towed from a McDonald’s parking lot across the street.
Mundy tried to call friends and relatives, but couldn’t find anyone to give her a ride to the tow lot. Witnesses saw her get into a grey car with an unknown man, according to police.

Mundy later sent a text message to her mother saying she thought she was in danger and feared the man was going to hurt her.
Angela Collins was still on the bus to California with her two grandchildren when she got the disturbing message.

She tried frantically to reach Mundy. Collins then called several relatives and asked them to try to find Mundy.
By the time the bus arrived in California, there was still no sign of her daughter.
"Next call we got, they had found the body. It was my baby, Collins said as she choked back tears. "This man took away my baby."
An autopsy revealed Mundy had been strangled.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT KHOU

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