Here are things to know for Monday, Jan. 31:
1. Body found in pickup truck at Cullen Park linked to missing man’s case
Recommended Videos
A body was found inside the back of a pickup truck at a public park in west Houston Sunday morning.
Houston police found the body at Cullen Park on Saums Road and Barker Cypress.
“Park personnel, parks and recs rangers found a vehicle that hadn’t moved in a few days, and upon their investigation to see what was going on with the vehicle, they located a deceased person inside,” HPD Homicide Detective Eric said.
Authorities said the person was found wrapped in the bed of a black pickup truck.
While investigators have not identified the person found in the vehicle, the license plate number of the truck matches a missing person KPRC 2 reported about last week, Floyd Man Hayes.
2. Gruesome details: K-9 stabbing suspect’s alleged confession of delivering dad’s fatal blow; lawyer withdraws from case
Ryan Mitchell Smith, who is accused of stabbing a K-9 officer with a butcher knife and killing his father with a dumbbell, appeared before a judge Friday.
The 26-year-old had a laundry list of charges racked up within a week, with the most recent being the murder of his father, Cameron Smith, who suffered a brutal death less than one day after his son was released on bond, as outlined in a court document.
During Friday’s court appearance, a prosecutor explained to the judge that bonds for Smith’s robbery case and the K-9 case - which were granted and revoked in just under seven days -- were $25,000 each and the first evading charge was $100,000.
3. Man accused of injuring 3 HPD officers in Midtown shootout to face federal charges, documents say
The man accused of wounding three Houston police officers in Thursday’s shootout that ended in an hours-long standoff will face federal charges, according to court documents.
Roland Caballero, 31, was charged on Friday for felony possession of a machine gun. In addition to federal charges, Caballero is facing three counts of attempted capital murder on a police officer and one count of aggravated robbery.
Court documents noted that the gun Caballero used in the shootout was an illegally-modified Glock handgun with a red switch on the back.
KPRC 2 Investigates reported that the modification allowed the gun to fire multiple rounds every couple of seconds.
4. Flash flood watch in effect today
Dangerous flooding is possible this afternoon and evening as a storm system moves through southeast Texas. It will certainly impact your ride home with street flooding possible.
Where the heaviest rain falls:
The heaviest rain will fall west of I-45. 2-4″ of rain is expected with a few spots receiving 6-7″. While Houston is expecting 1-2″ of rain, we can easily get more with street flooding possible.
5. Goodbye Skeeters, hello Space Cowboys: Astros’ Sugar Land affiliate gets a new name
The Astros ballclub announced Saturday the new brand for its Triple A franchise in Sugar Land.
Known as the Skeeters since it’s inception in 2012, the team was redubbed the Space Cowboys during a Saturday launch party where the team’s new uniforms, logo and mascot Orion, described as a “cosmic space dog” of the species “Canis Cosmicus” were also revealed.
“We are excited to be launching the new identity for our Triple A affiliate, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys,” said Anita Sehgal, Astros Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, in a news release. “Today represents a new chapter of professional baseball in Sugar Land and the next step to take as the team moved from its independent ball roots to affiliated Triple A baseball. Our goal was to clearly reflect a strong connection to the Astros family, but also stand out as a unique identity aligned with the vibrant, progressive, and family focused values of the City of Sugar Land community.”