HUMBLE, Texas – A man was arrested and charged after deputies said he shot and killed an innocent woman who was lying in her bed when he started firing at burglary suspects in Humble.
Darius Lewis was charged with manslaughter. His bond was set at $75,000 during probable cause court Thursday.
On Wednesday at around 6:15 a.m., deputies responded to reports of a shooting at an apartment complex located in the 14000 block of Woodland Hills.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they found 28-year-old Bethany Mefford still in her bed, dead from a gunshot wound.
“It’s a heartbreaking situation. We’ve seen situations where people have fired indiscriminately or fired at others. Some have been able to survive but this is one of those tragic situations where a person was simply sleeping in their beds when she was fatally shot,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
According to Gonzalez, authorities received reports of gunfire and burglarized vehicles at the same apartment complex around 2:30 a.m. Gonzalez said Lewis, an apartment resident who lives across the parking lot from Mefford, observed the burglaries and went outside to the parking lot and started shooting at the suspects.
After deputies arrested two adults and one juvenile for the burglaries, Gonzalez said Lewis was questioned about the shooting but claimed to only have fired his gun into the ground to scare the burglary suspects.
Investigators reviewed the evidence at the scene and Lewis was arrested and charged.
Arrest update: the victim has been identified as Bethany Mefford (28). Earlier in the morning, at about 2:30 a.m., several suspects were observed in the complex parking lot breaking into vehicles. An apt complex resident, Darius Lewis, who lives across the parking lot from
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) May 10, 2023
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