Other Deaths and Injuries

Definition of: "hom·i·cide" - 1. the killing of one human being by another. 2. a person who kills another; murderer. Dictionary.com

2011

12/9/11 - Jose Ahismael Salgado, 28, found hanged in the Houston PD Central jail. He died 3 days after being taken to the hospital in unresponsive and critical condition. Police claim suicide. (media reports)

12/4/11 - Deltric Deon Caldwell, 39, b/m dies while in custody of Houston PD. Caldwell was arrested in the parking lot of a strip center for possession of narcotics. Shortly after his arrest, Caldwell was found unresponsive in his cell; paramedics took Caldwell to the hospital where he died. (media reports)

11/25/11 - Unidentified man, 19, w/m dies after HPD Westside Patrol Officer E. Richardson chased him because he saw the driver spinning his wheels. During the chase, the driver lost control of his vehicle, struck several trees in the median was ejected from the vehicle which then rolled over and landed on him before catching fire. (media reports)

11/24/11 - Kyle Wayne Collins

29, w/m, "found" dead in Pasadena jail 4 1/2 hours after being arrested for DUI. (media reports)

11/19/11 - Robert Gomez, 30, dies while in custody of Houston PD. Gomez was arrested for DUI; police claim he was put in a cell fully visible to other inmates. But shortly after his arrest, Gomez was "found" hanged in his cell; police claim suicide. (media reports)

10/2011 - Anthony Childress, b/m, beaten by four Houston PD officers. (media reports)

7/6/11 - Police probing burglary suspect's in-custody death - (KTRK)

3/17/11 - Chad Holley

15, b/m, unarmed, suspected of burglary was beaten by eight Houston police officers (named below) during his arrest. The officers were caught on tape kicking, punching and stomping on Holley who was handcuffed. The officers were put on administrative leave (with pay) pending the outcome of the case. Four of the officers were brought up on misdemeanor charges of official oppression - not assault. Those four Houston officers were indicted and fired: Raad Hassan, Andrew Bloomberg, Drew Ryser and Phillip Bryan. The video showed the most physical cop appeared to be Raad Hassan. Twelve officers were disciplined in the Holley case, most have been given their jobs back. (media reports)

Accused officers:

Sgt. John W. McClellan	sworn in - May, 1972
Officer Raad M. Hassan	sworn in - December, 2003
Officer Waleed M. Hassan	sworn in - May, 2001
Officer Philip N. Bryan	sworn in - December, 1990
Officer Drew W. Ryser	sworn in - February, 2007
Officer Andrew T. Blomberg	sworn in - February, 2007
Officer Gaudencio Saucedo	sworn in - April, 2002
Sr. Officer Lewis M. Childress	sworn in - July, 1988

1/22/11 - Norman Ford Hicks Sr.

72, b/m, and known to be mentally ill, dies of heart attack after being beaten in a room with no cameras by unidentified Harris County Sheriff's Office jail guard(s). Hicks was arrested for domestic assault on 1/7/11; on 1/16/11, a deputy claims Hicks threw a shirt soiled with human waste at him, and a "disturbance" followed. His injuries were untreated until the next day when he was taken to hospital, where he died 3 days later. Hicks suffered severe brain injury and a broken nose; autopsy describes his death as a homicide. The deputy(s) was no-billed. (media reports)

 

2010

12/23/10 - Michael Young, a former Univ. of Houston basketball star, was hit in the head with a baton, wielded by Houston PD officer Brenton Green. Young was shopping with his young son when he was struck from behind by Green. Suspended for 20 days, with pay, and charged with official oppression, Green was acquitted by a grand jury. (media reports)

Also see:

Excessive force charges against HPD Officer Brenton Green

6/14/10 - Jose Alfredo Jimenez

h/m, 42, dies after being Tasered by unidentified Harris County Sheriff's deputy, a 9-yr. vet. The deputy had stopped Jimenez for a traffic violation; he claims Jimenez pushed him and tried to run away, so he shot him with a Taser. He then claims Jimenez fell and hit his head, causing his death five days later. (media reports)

2008

10/2008 - Henry Madge

b/m, 27, beaten while handcuffed by off-duty Houston PD officer B.L. Hall. Madge was in the hospital waiting room while his son had surgery. After being asked to turn down the audio on his laptop computer, which he did, Hall soon entered the room and arrested Madge. While being led from the waiting room, Hall suddenly knocked Madge to the floor, then hit him repeatedly with his baton. A video shows no apparent reason for the arrest or the beating. (media reports)

 

2007

02/18/07 - Six Years, 101 Deaths in Harris County Jails - Steve McVicker, Houston Chronicle

7/21/07 - Pedro "Pete" Gonzales Jr.

h/m, 51, dies in jail cell after being arrested by Pasadena PD officers Christopher S. Jones, 29 (joined PPD January 2007), and Jason W. Buckaloo, 33 (7-yr. vet.). The officers claim Gonzales resisted when they attempted to arrest him for public intoxication, and they struck him several times with their knees and elbows. (Gonzales was 5' 3" and weighed about 130 lbs.) A passing witness says she stopped her car when she saw the officers standing over Gonzales. "...he was just laying there, on the floor, flat on his back, and the cops were just punching him...he wasn't putting up a fight." When one of the officers noticed her car and began to approach her, the witness left, but stopped at a pay phone and called 911 to report the beating. The dispatcher said they could do nothing, and told her to call the police. Officers further claim that Gonzales tripped as Jones was taking him to the patrol car in handcuffs, and he hit his head when he fell on a concrete island. Once at the police station, police called an ambulance for Gonzales, who complained of pain in his ribs and legs, but signed a form refusing further treatment. He was placed in a holding cell, where he was found dead 6 hours later. A preliminary autopsy report revealed 11 broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung. (media reports)

In 2001, Buckaloo was charged with using excessive force on a high school student by slamming his face into a wall, but a jury found him not guilty.

04/17/07 - William Lewis tasered by HPD officer D.M. Boling while holding the couple's newborn child at The Woman's Hospital. (media reports)

See also: (Boling media reports)

 

2006

3/31/06 - Name Unknown, wounded by Tomball officers, names withheld. (will update)

2/2006 - Leamon Caldwell, 58, died in the Harris County jail in February 2006. (will update)

1/31/06 - Christopher Wayne Yell, wounded by Richmond PD officer (6 mo. Rookie), Holly Mong. (media reports)

 

2005

5/30/05 - Calvin Mack, 44, dies in custody of Harris County jail. As Mack. a drug addict, lay bleeding in his cell, a guard refuses to summon help, saying, "What do you want me to do, get a band-aid?" Four hours later, Mack was dead. (media reports)

 

2004

4/5/04 - Unidentified man, unarmed, wounded when shot in the arm by an unidentified security guard. The guard said two men were trying to break into parked cars, and got in a car and tried to flee when the guard spotted them. The guard claims that they drove toward him and he fired one shot, hitting the driver in the shoulder. However, the bullet entered the driver’s side door, not the front of the car.

3/16/04 - Two unidentified males, wounded when one was shot in the abdomen and the other was shot in the leg by Eduardo Rosales Gutierrez, h/m, 25, a security guard. Gutierrez was taking money to a bank when 3 cars surrounded his vehicle in a robbery attempt. A man in the third car escaped.

 

2003

7/11/03 - Naomi Auten, h/f, 59, injured when she fell after being shot with a taser by Baytown PD officer Micah Aldred, w/m, 25, a 5-yr. veteran. Aldred's first shot was pressed against her body; he claimed the gun malfunctioned and shot her again; he shot her a third time as she tried to rise from the ground. Auten is 5 ft. 2 in. tall and suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue; she required 17 stitches to a gash on her head. Aldred was no-billed.

See also:

1/20/02 - Aldred is involved in killing Luis Torres.

7/7/03 - Unidentified teenage girl, injured when a car being chased by unidentified Harris County sheriff's deputies crashes into a parked car, sending it into the teen's home.

1/11/03 - Bobby Constancio, h/m, 35, suffers severe head injury when Harris County sheriff’s deputies Donald Tipps and Trevor Windsor, both 11-yr. veterans, try to arrest him outside a bar. Police claim Constancio fell backwards and hit his head, but his girlfriend said one of the deputies pushed him face first into a wall before he fell. He remains in a coma in poor condition.

 

2002

12/29/02 - Benjamin Charles Boatman, 19, w/m, killed when the SUV in which he is a passenger is struck broadside by Precinct 4 deputy constable Raul Martinez, 32, a 1-yr. veteran. Police first claim the deputy was pursuing a traffic violator when the driver of the SUV "failed to yield the right-of-way" and turned in front of Martinez; they later admit there was no pursuit. Photos of the severe damage to the SUV indicate Martinez was probably driving at a high rate of speed at the time of impact. Martinez and all occupants of the SUV were life-flighted to hospital; the deputy and two passengers were in serious condition; the SUV driver was in stable condition. The civilians injured: Andrea Knight, 18, Matthew Reid, 18, and James McMullan II., 22.

12/16/02 - Gary Don Powell II., 45, dies while in custody of unidentified Houston police officers, who had arrested him after witnesses said he was "acting strangely" and had broken out windows of a house. After coaxing Powell from under a house officers claim he "violently struggled" with them and they handcuffed his hands and feet. Police claim paramedics at the scene checked his condition immediately following the struggle and found he had stopped breathing.

8/14/02 - Edward Tilman McCraw, 38, died after a struggle with 8-yr. Houston police officer Brent W. Foltz (Westside Patrol Division). McCraw drank some beverages at a convenience store but had no money to pay for them. Foltz was in the store at the time and "began interviewing" McCraw. Believing he needed medical assistance, Foltz called an ambulance for McCraw who "became combative." Foltz claimed he was forced to restrain him, then McCraw stopped breathing and died.

6/5/02 - Unidentified man, 39, dies after being arrested by unidentified Houston police officer for public intoxication. Police claim he was unresponsive when the patrol car arrived at Central Jail, and he was taken to hospital, where he died.

5/6/02 - Catalina Rico, h/f, 41, under guard by Harris County sheriff’s deputy while in hospital after setting fire to her home, found hanged in bathroom at 6 a.m. when a deputy coming on duty asked a nurse to check on her.

1/20/02 - Luis Alfonso Torres

45, h/m, beaten to death by Baytown police officers Bert Dillow and Micah Aldred, both 4-yr. veterans, and Sgt. Rodney Evans, a 12-yr. veteran. Family members called an ambulance and advised that Torres was in extreme distress from complications of high blood pressure; he refused the ambulance, whose crew then called police. When the 3 officers found him about an hour later they claimed they only pepper-sprayed and handcuffed him after a struggle. Paramedics treated him for the effects of the pepper spray and started to leave but were called back by the officers, who said Torres had “stopped breathing.” The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, stating that Torres died from “mechanical asphyxia” with blunt-impact trauma. Interim Police Chief Byron Jones said the officers acted according to police procedures and did not use excessive force. Soon after Torres’ death, officer Dillow was accused of using excessive force in another incident. Photos show massive bruising on his head, front and back torso, and wrists, indicating he was beaten while handcuffed. (See autopsy photos)

 

2001

11/15/01 - James Carroll Gross, 60, dies while in custody of Houston Police Dept. The day after his arrest for public intoxication, Gross was taken to hospital and treated for pneumonia and other infection.  He died the following day on 11/17/01.

9/7/01 - Mark Dawson, b/m, 22, obviously mentally ill or under the influence of drugs, dies after a 14-minute struggle with Houston police officers S.A. Murphy and J.K. Rose, other unnamed police officers and Houston fireman Reginald Stewart. The incident began after he was seen, naked and covered with blood, in the middle of the street. A police spokesman said officers were trying to handcuff Dawson when he stopped breathing. Although an autopsy found no trauma that would have been fatal and that Dawson died of a drug overdose, a witness commented that he would have survived if police had let him sit up. Another witness said that she saw police handcuff and hit Dawson with nightsticks and that after he got real still the police just stood there watching him. She said the officers checked for a pulse several times before administering CPR. Another witness said, “everything they did to him wasn’t necessary. He was on his stomach and he was naked on the concrete.”

8/28/01 - Donnie Jerome Goston, b/m, 28, killed after a 15-minute car chase. Houston police officer H.A. Whillock said she saw Goston’s car weaving, called for backup then began chasing him.  After Goston lost control and crashed into a concrete barrier on a freeway overpass, Whillock claims he came toward her then climbed over the guardrail and jumped 30 to 40 feet onto the freeway below.

8/22/01 - Edith Ann Morgan Reagan, 49, killed after being arrested for appearing to be intoxicated by Pasadena police officers Brian Scott Carnley, 29, a 3-yr. veteran serving as a field training officer, and Jason Eugene Mitchell, 26, on the police force less than one month. The officers’ car, which one witness said was parked entirely in a lane of traffic, was struck from behind by an 18-wheeler. As Reagan sat handcuffed in the back of the patrol car it was engulfed in flames, along with her car and the truck. Neither the officers nor the truck driver were injured.

8/21/01 - Shamim Siddiqi, 52-yr. old Pakistani female, dies while in custody of off-duty Harris County sheriff’s deputy Charlie Ferguson, a 15-yr. department veteran, who was working as a security guard for Albertson’s grocery store. When she and two companions were accused of shoplifting, Siddiqi collapsed on the floor.  Her requests for an ambulance were ignored and she was accused of faking her distress.  By the time EMTs arrived, Siddiqi was dead of an apparent heart attack.  No stolen items were found on her. Ferguson was no-billed.

7/26/01 - Ivan Smith, 73, killed when his pickup “collided” with a patrol car driven by Houston police officer Thomas Lewis Wethington. Police refused to say if the officer was on an emergency call with lights and siren on when the collision occurred.

5/5/01 - Tyson Baxter, 15, drowned in a bayou while four Houston police officers stood by as he struggled in the water.  When Tyson’s cousin tried to go into the water to help he was restrained by all four officers and placed in the back of a police car.  Another bystander also attempted to rescue Tyson but was told he would be arrested if he stepped into the water.

 

2000

11/2/00 - Unidentified 10-yr. old girl accuses HPD officer Ernest Jackson II, 33 (a relative), of molesting her for 2 years. He is charged with sexual assault and indecency with a child and placed on paid leave. (media reports)

10/27/00 - James Cody Thomas, 19, is allegedly accidentally shot in the neck as Brent Grady Thomas, 20 (no relation), shows him a gun. In an earlier incident during 1999, Brent Thomas, the son of Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas, was questioned in connection with the overdose death of Thomas Raymond Carmichael at a party both had attended. (media reports)

10/26/00 - Christine Ann Pomykal, 41, found hanged with a telephone cord in a Pasadena City Jail cell.  An inmate two cells away said she heard a jailer yelling at Pomykal, then heard gasps and two thumps.  Police claim suicide.

10/8/00 - Gary Wayne Whitter, 43, armed and threatening suicide, “surrenders” after being surrounded by Houston SWAT officers for 5 hours. No reason is given for the initial confrontation.

10/3/00 - Montgomery County Deputy Constable Ward Berwick, 39, suspended after shooting at his wife’s car as she fled from him.

 10/2/00 - Rundy Glen Stephens Jr., 19, shoots himself in the head when Harris County sheriff’s deputies chase him through subdivision on foot. Police say he had "threatened several people and himself with a gun."

9/7/00 - Unidentified woman, killed when the SUV she was riding in, driven by off-duty HPD officer Tina Nicole Peacock, 23, flips and rolls.  No other vehicles were involved.

8/30/00 - Robert Earl Ray Jr., 20, struck by HPD squad car driven by Micah Keith Webb, 27, and killed while crossing street intersection. Webb claims he was responding to an "urgent call" and had overhead lights on, but not his siren. The police report says Ray "failed to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle."

8/29/00 - Homeless man taken by 2 Harris County deputies to secluded area, beaten with batons and told to leave town. (KTRK-TV)

8/26/00 - Scott Allen Mitchell

25, found hanged in the Clear Lake jail of the Harris County Sheriff's Dept. Mitchell had been charged with a family violence misdemeanor offense. Police claim suicide.

8/19/00 - Five teen-agers, injured when hit head-on by patrol car driven by HPD officer Jerry R. Mixon, 27. Mixon, chasing a speeder, was on the wrong side of the road in a no-passing zone at a crest in the road and did not have emergency lights or siren on. The injured are: Michael Flowe, 17, broken femur; Rachel Burk, 16, severe brain injury, and broken jaw and cheekbone; Pedro Martinez, 16, seriously injured; Savanna Blackburn, 16, broken femur; Matthew Stayner, 15 or 16, treated and released. Mixon was treated for lacerations and hand injuries and released; he had been with HPD for one year.

8/18/00 - Robert S. Grayless, 33, a Fort Bend County deputy constable, resigns following arrest for assault on his girlfriend and her brother.

7/9/00 - Two unidentified Houston police officers suffer minor injuries when one rear-ends the other as they respond to a call for back-up.

5/6/00 - Two unidentified girls, 13 and 16, claim they were fondled by HPD officer John Sheldon Williams, 32. He is suspending pending investigation.

4/19/00 - Mexican Consulate issues warning to Hispanic community re Houston Police Dept. shootings of Hispanics.

3/24/00 - Unidentified 42 year-old man, sitting in the middle of his burned living room with what police believe to be a rifle, refuses to respond to Houston SWAT officers. After 7 hours, police use a Taser gun to force him from his home. The "rifle" was a piece of rebar.

1/26/00 - Unidentified 19 year-old man, unarmed, chased in his pickup by Galveston County sheriff’s deputy and DPS trooper after his mother calls police, fearing he is suicidal. Shots are fired during the chase. He suffers minor injuries when his truck crashes.

1/23/00 Ascencion Pina, 53, and Ruperta Pina, and three children, injured when a truck being chased by unidentified Harris County sheriff’s deputies hits their pickup. The two being chased, Richard Dil, 20, and Dax Dove, 17, were also injured.

1/4/00 - HPD officer Michael J. Patterson filmed by media as he kicks and slaps unidentified robbery suspect. Patterson is convicted of official oppression; assessed one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.

 

1999

12/13/99 - Unidentified woman, 23, taken from her car and coerced to perform oral sex on officer Adrian Haywood, 29, after traffic stop. The woman’s 2-week old baby was in her car, as was the woman’s sister. Haywood is later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

10/10/99 - Jerry Pate, 47, arrested for public intoxication, is found hanged in city jail cell. Police claim suicide.

10/1999 - Unidentified 10-yr. old girl, molested by Rosenberg police officer Albert Rubio, 28. He is later indicted for sexual assault.

9/30/99 - Unidentified woman, coaxed to apartment complex by HPD officer Selvyn J. Ellis, 34. Ellis is indicted for official oppression.

7/30/99 - Joseph Emile Bunn, 39, unarmed, is subdued with beanbag shotgun after lengthy standoff with HPD SWAT team. Bunn had assaulted 2 women, released the 91-yr. old woman but held the younger one hostage. He is charged with injury to the elderly.

7/14/99 - HPD narcotics officer M. A. Boyle, 37, shoots at but misses Victor Estrada, 20, during drug search. Although Estrada was outside the residence being searched, police claim he “attempted to gain possession of an assault rifle” and Boyle, “fearing for his life,” fired. The location of the rifle is not stated. Estrada is charged with aggravated assault of officer.

6/21/99 - 39 year-old man, threatening to ignite cans of gasoline taped to his chest, is subdued by beanbag shotgun. He suffers only minor bruising.

6/20/99 - Leroy Baker, rendered a quadriplegic when Harris County sheriff's deputies break his neck, dies a year later on 6/6/00 from his injuries. Baker had been arrested on an assault charge and said a deputy began beating him from behind; he was then dragged to a cell, further injuring him. Officials have thus far refused to disclose any involved officers' names.

5/29/99 - Paula Kethley and Earl Kethley, assaulted by Pasadena ISD police Cpt. T.D. Harrison and other officers at their son’s graduation ceremony after Harrison refused to allow Earl to re-enter building.

3/19/99 - Alberico Escobar, unarmed and handcuffed, beaten by Pasadena police officers James Anderson, F.L. Schrock, and Mark Turpin while being served with a warrant that had been rescinded 4 days earlier. Officers cleared by grand jury.

3/16/99 - Kim Stuart, Taylor Stuart, 3, Kayla Stuart, 7, Rebecca Garza, 63, and Mary Gorena, 59, injured when a car being pursued by HPD and other law enforcement officers smashed into Stuart’s car, which spun into Gorena’s car. In the car being chased were five teenagers suspected of armed robbery. A 14-yr. old girl in the suspects’ car was also seriously injured. Teens charged with aggravated robbery, attempted murder and aggravated assault.

2/20/99 - Santos T. Morino, 24, hit by Harris County sheriff's patrol car driven by deputy B. Quiser, and killed . Quiser claimed Morino "suddenly stepped in front of his patrol car."

2/20/99 - Fredrick Hubbard, 32, unarmed, refused to turn down volume of music. He was shot and killed by Gabriel Bradshaw, an apartment security guard, who claimed Hubbard began chasing him when asked to turn down the loud music.

 

1998

12/17/98 - Joseph V. Zepeda, 40, struck and killed by HPD patrol car driven by officer Nelson Hairgrove Jr., 31. Hairgrove says Zepeda, not in crosswalk, ran in front of him.

12/15/98 - Herbert Williams, 82, killed when his car was hit by patrol car driven by HPD officer David M. Boling, 38, who claimed Williams pulled out in front of his car. Witnesses say Boling's lights and siren were not on. (media reports)

See also: (Boling media reports)

04/17/07 - Boling tasers father holding newborn.

03/01/97 - Boling shot Patrick Scott, 22, in the head and leg, critically wounding him, while working off-duty at a club, claiming Scott pointed a weapon at him;

03/08/95 - Boling shot a 25-yr. old unnamed man in the buttocks while working off-duty at a club. Boling claims he saw a muzzle flash from one of two pistols the man allegedly was holding; and

8/7/94 - Boling shot and killed Morse Wayne Holland, 20, while working off-duty at a club. Boling fired eleven (11) bullets, hitting Morse three (3) times; he again claims that Holland pointed a gun at him.

2/13/98 - Stuart Dale Johnson, 37, found hanged at Harris County Jail. Johnson, a former police officer, had been convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Police claim suicide.

2/9/98 - Rafael Vega Salinas, 21, and Fernando V. Valdivia, 33, shot and killed by security guard Efrain Romero Majano, 28 (not on duty at the time). Majano and his girlfriend were arguing outside a club. A man in a van said something to Majano, who then fired eight (8) times into the van, killing the two.

1/23/98 - Julian Garcia, 23, killed when Pasadena police car driven by B.C. Kelldorf hits his car.

1/12/98 - Royce Lee Charles, 23, handcuffed in patrol car, dies of heart attack when Harris County sheriff's deputy Richard Roe and another unnamed deputy refuse him medical attention after swallowing cocaine.

1/4/98 - Christopher Molina, 32, quit breathing shortly after being handcuffed by HPD officers. Police say Molina had smashed the window of an apartment and struggled with the resident.

 

1997

4/29/97 - Harrison Hughes, 61, dies of heart attack 13 days after Houston police storm the home where he is visiting to arrest a boy on drug charges.  The police drop a battering pole on Hughes' foot, fracturing it; septic shock sets in, causing his heart attack.  (No drugs or weapons were found, charges against the boy were dismissed.)

4/29/97 - Ronnie Tucker, 41, homeless, mentally ill and unarmed, shot three (3) times and killed by state district judge Werner Voigt, 60.  Police say Tucker had stolen a lawyer's briefcase; Voigt pursued him in his car,confronted him and told Tucker to "give up the briefcase."  Tucker supposedly became enraged and began beating Voigt, who drew his gun and shot Tucker.  Voigt was no-billed.

2/4/97 - Juana Patricia Hernandez, 38, killed when HPD officer Arnetta Martin, 34, drove through a red light and broadsided her car.  Martin is suspended for 20 days for failing to take evasive actions.

 

1996

6/1/96 - Jeffrey Allen McAdams, 37, arrested for public intoxication, found hanged in HPD holding cell.

2/21/96 - Jabar Watson, 22, HPD officer Alexander Moreira is accused of beating Jabar Watson, after pulling him over on a traffic stop. (media reports)

See also: (Moreira media reports)

09/02/03 - Moreira shoots George Corona;

07/21/03 - Moreira shoots Sarah Fay Mize; and

03/07/96 - Moreira kills Clinton Sparks.

1/10/96 - Priciliano Rodriguez, 43, arrested for assault and public intoxication, found hanged in a jail cell at HPD's Northeast Substation. Police claim suicide.

 

1995

12/23/95 - Timothy J. Mahan, 35, ejected and killed when the car in which he was a passenger is hit head-on by a pickup driven by off-duty Houston police officer Brett Wayne Hollier, 26, a 3-yr. HPD veteran from the North Shepherd Substation gang task force. Hollier had been at a Christmas party with other gang task force members; his blood-alcohol level was .22 percent. Thomas Borja, 34, driver of the car, suffered a dislocated hip and other injuries; Hollier had minor injuries. Indicted for intoxicated manslaughter, Hollier pled guilty; he was fined $5,000, placed on probation and ordered to spend 120 days under house arrest. He was also required to perform 700 hours of community service.

6/24/95 - Rudy Garcia, 50, beaten to death when a friend is assaulted as they left a club after playing pool.  A brawl ensued and off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputies Steven Deliphose, 38, and Robert Tovar and John Peterson, both 25, working security at the club, claim they tried to break up the fight.  But an assistant medical examiner testified Garcia's injuries were consistent with being hit repeatedly with a heavy metal object, like a flashlight, not a pool stick.  Peterson was fired for lying about what happened and for removing evidence from the scene; Tovar was convicted of perjury; witnesses saw all three deputies beating Garcia.

 

1994

4/4/94 Juan Melendez, 15, h/m, and Ruby Garcia, 16, h/f, killed when they crashed their car into a utility pole during chase by Houston police officer. Police suspected their car was stolen, and they fled after being stopped.

 

1993

12/9/93 - Maximo Ernesto Perez, 19, h/m, died of meningitis while in custody of Houston Police Department. Perez was removed from an Amtrak train about 12:40 p.m., brought into the jail and booked as a drunk; he was never examined by a jail medical technician, in violation of a federal court order. Perez, head bobbing and unable to stand alone, was handcuffed and placed in isolation. Found unresponsive at 7:20 p.m., he was taken to Ben Taub Hospital but died 2 hours later. A wrongful death lawsuit was settled 2 years later for $500,000.00.

2/13/93 - Jorge Alberto Galvis, 41, h/m, threatening suicide, is found hanged in Harris County Jail 3 hours after his arrest.

 

1992

12/11/92 - Johnny James, 63, struck and severely injured by Houston police officer Rex M. Gigout, 31, with his patrol car. Gigout was allegedly responding to a burglary with lights and siren on. James died the next day of massive head injuries.

See also:

6/26/93 – Gigout kills Jose Luis Montoya.

 

1987 - 1991

 

1986

10/15/86 - Anthony Carl Spiller, 15 yrs. old. On 10/15/86, Zell Ray Woods, b/m, a 4-yr. veteran police officer with Brookshire PD and a former military police officer, shot Anthony Carl Spiller. Spiller was a passenger in a pickup truck allegedly stolen by a 17-yr. old friend. Woods shot at the truck as he chased it at speeds up to 100 m.p.h. (It is unlawful for a peace officer to shoot at a fleeing suspect.) The truck crashed and the boys ran on foot. Woods chased and shot at them, hitting Spiller in the jaw. Investigators said they do not know why Woods fired at the unarmed teen.

 

1977 - 1982

3/20/82 - Steven George Barnette

w/m, 17, beaten to death by Harris County deputy constable, Billy Hampton McCreight, deputy William T. Gordon and William F. Whigham. Steven Barnette died with a ruptured spleen resulting from the hours of torture and beatings. McCreight was charged with murder and first-degree felony violation of civil rights. The deputies were also indicted in the teenager's death. Barnette was arrested at the scene of several residential burglaries. After two criminal trials and one plea bargain, the parents of Steven Barnette received a judgement against the three. To date, the deputies have yet to satisfy the judgement against them.

Billy Hampton McCreight

William T. Gordon

William F. Whigham

5/6/77 - Joe Campos Torres

23, unarmed, drowned in Buffalo Bayou after being beaten so severely by HPD officers Wayne Denson, Stephen Orlando and Joseph Janish that a booking sergeant refused to accept him at the City Jail.  Torres was arrested when officers responded to a disturbance call at a bar.  When the sergeant refused to jail him, the officers took him to the Bayou, beat him again and pushed him into the water.  He was found dead in the Bayou two days later.  His killers said they only wanted to beat into him a respect for the law.  They were sentenced to one year in jail for killing him, and ten years probation for beating him. 

Officers Denson and Orlando were tried on state murder charges. They were convicted of negligent homicide and received one year of probation and a $1 fine. Officers, Denson, Orlando and Janish were later convicted of federal civil rights violations in 1978, and served nine months in prison. Echoes of the Moody Park Rebellion

 

Monitor this page

it's private

powered by ChangeDetection

 

Be notified of page updates

it's private

powered by ChangeDetection