HOUSTON – Three Houston teens are facing charges in connection with the carjacking of a campaign volunteer in Sunnyside.
It happened Sept. 2 in the 5200 block of Wilmington Street.
What happened
Tina Kingshill and another woman said they were canvassing the neighborhood while passing out campaign flyers for Travis McGee, a local barber and longtime community activist running for Houston City Council District D.
Kingshill said she was stopped on the road with her car running and doors unlocked when someone opened her driver's side door and pointed a gun in her face.
"'Get out of the car. I got this gun and I will shoot you,'" she said the man said.
Kingshill said she reached for her purse but claims the carjacker ordered her to leave it.
"So I just got out of the car. I wasn't going to mess around with him," she said.
Another volunteer who was working with Kingshill said the teen also pointed a gun in her face a short time before he got to Kingshill.
Finding the car
That woman drove around the neighborhood looking for Kingshill's stolen vehicle. She spotted it five hours later in the 5200 block of Lyndhurst Drive and called the police.
A 15-year-old girl was driving the car with two 17-year-olds -- Cedric Paddio and Brandon Bell -- as passengers. Kingshill identified Bell as the person who carjacked her and held her at gunpoint.
'Try to help him'
Though she does want Bell to be prosecuted, Kingshill says she also feels compassion for him.
"This child felt so desperate that he felt he had to do that. I would like to learn more about his situation and try to help him," she said.
Teens charged
Bell is charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and criminal trespassing in a motor vehicle.
Paddio is charged with criminal trespassing in a motor vehicle.
The 15-year-old girl is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.