HOUSTON – A man was found shot to death outside a taxi Wednesday morning in the parking lot of a Briar Forest apartment complex, Houston police said.
The shooting happened just before 3:30 a.m. at the Olympia Flats Apartments on Hayes Road.
Resident William Ojeme said before the shots, he heard the victim, identified by police as 44-year-old Goddy Chika, cry out.
"Suddenly, I just hear, 'Help, help!'" Ojeme said.
Witnesses reported hearing three consecutive gunshots.
"A witness ran down found a male that had been shot several times and attempted to do CPR. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful and the victim is dead here at the scene," Lt. Larry Crowson, with the Houston Police Department, said.
Ojeme said he saw a woman performing CPR, but it was already too late.
"We tried to turn him over and I just said to myself, 'I couldn't do anything,'" Ojeme said.
Detectives believe Chika was a taxi cab driver and a number of residents independently reported to KPRC2 that they saw their neighbor driving the cab from time to time.
While investigators haven't officially determined what the motive is, they believe it could be robbery based on the circumstances of the crime scene.
While no suspect information has been released yet, Ojeme said he saw the getaway car.
"I saw a sedan, it was just kind of maybe an older model of Nissan or Honda," Ojeme said. "It's like a beige color, he just took off with high speed and drove off."
As the sun came up on this crime scene, more and more residents took notice of their fallen neighbor, with a number of them saying violence like this is commonplace around here.
"Since I've been out here from Cali(fornia) -- I've been out here for five years -- there's always drama," resident Armani Payne said.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.