Here are things to know for Friday, Feb. 18:
1. 4 dead in fiery crash after vehicle strikes Uber driver, hits tree near IAH Airport, police say
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Houston police are investigating a fiery crash they said left four people dead near IAH Airport in northeast Houston Friday.
It happened around 12:30 a.m. near the 6600 block of Will Clayton Parkway.
Officials with the Houston Fire Department said they responded to reports of a crash and located four people inside a sedan, which was on fire.
According to police, one of those people were partially ejected from the vehicle. The people in the sedan were all pronounced dead at the scene, officers said.
Investigators said an Uber driver was headed to the airport when a sedan traveling at a high rate of speed hit the Uber driver. The sedan then left the roadway after striking the Uber vehicle, hit a tree and burst into flames, according to HPD.
2. Family of 27-year-old man killed by Houston police claims body cam video shows HPD officer firing first
The heartbroken mother of 27-year-old Charion Lockett stood with dozens outside Houston police headquarters downtown voicing their concern over the nature of Lockett’s death, saying their loved one was unjustly killed at the hands of police.
The family is filing a federal lawsuit, saying the officers were not trained properly. The family’s attorneys held a news conference outside HPD headquarters and claimed that the newly released body camera video shows an officer firing first.
“Justice will be served. We anticipate filing a federal lawsuit that highlights the fact that these officers were not trained properly. To highlights the fact that these incidents occur far too often,” Taft Foley, Lockett’s family’s attorney said Thursday.
3. Revealed in court: 9-year-old accidentally shot, killed by robbery victim lost life over $20, prosecutors say
The man charged in the shooting death of an innocent 9-year-old girl who was riding in a truck with her family has bonded out of jail Thursday evening, the Harris County Sherriff’s Office confirmed.
His release comes hours after a judge denied lowering his bond of $100,000 during a court appearance in a Harris County courthouse, where it was also revealed that the suspect who robbed him only got away with $20.
The Houston case has captured the attention of people across the country, with questions arising about victims fighting back, innocent lives being lost, and the laws surrounding when a crime victim can fire his or her weapon.
4. ‘I want to see my son’: Mother demands accused killer to reveal where he hid 35-year-old missing Houston man’s body
A missing person’s case has now turned into a murder investigation after authorities revealed what happened to 35-year-old Daniel Brown, who was last seen on Jan. 25 in the Washington Corridor.
On Wednesday, police revealed Daniel had been shot to death the night he went missing.
His accused killer, 27-year-old Trevyon Tellis, allegedly confessed to his murder but did not reveal where Daniel’s body is located.
“I just want him to pay for what he did to my son,” Daniel’s mother, Alma Brown, said.
Alma said she knew from the beginning that Tellis had something to do with her son’s disappearance. She added that she will not be at peace until Daniel’s body is found.
5. Houston mother sentenced to 40 years for beating 5-year-old daughter to death with belt, DA says
A woman was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison after beating her 5-year-old daughter to death with a belt and lying about it, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Andrea Webb, 24, was found guilty in September for the first-degree felony of injury to a child.
In 2019, Webb called police and told them her daughter, Samantha Bell, fell from the family’s second-story apartment balcony in southwest Houston, according to prosecutors.
During the investigation, police found that Samantha suffered from bruises all over her body. When Webb was asked about the bruises, she admitted she lied and made up the story because she was scared that she would be charged with murder, prosecutors said.