Crime and Law

Junie Hoang: Actress' Suit Against IMDb For Revealing Her Age Allowed To Proceed

A federal judge has refused to toss out the suit filed by texas actress Junie Hoang, who anonymously sued Amazon for revealing her true age on its subsidiary movie-info website IMDb. Hoang, 41, a Texas A&M graduate who studied martial arts in Houston, sued the site for taking her age from informati ... More >>

Owen Laukkanen: The Professionals

Rafa & Cuco: Smuggling 17 Illegals in a Toyota Tundra

Two men received stiff sentences for running an illegal-immigrant smuggling business that was exposed when a Toyota Tundra carrying 17 of their clients crashed, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston announced today. Rafael Valles, "a.k.a. El Viejo or Rafa," and Refugio Reyna-Huerta, "a.k.a. Cuco," ... More >>

Micheal McClain, 21, Bayou Body Count No. 37

A man was shot to death on the east side Wednesday night during an argument, police say. Micheal M. McClain, 21, was shot in an apartment in the 600 block of Maxey Road about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police say he had been visiting the apartment with two other males when an altercation began. "McClai ... More >>

The Columbine Effect

Thirteen years and a hundred school shootings later, why is Hollywood still obsessed with this one?

Xavier Jamar Clinton, 27: March 1 Murder Victim ID'd, Two Suspects Arrested

The man who was was found shot to death March 1 has been identified, and two men have confessed to the crime, police say. Xavier Jamar Clinton, 27, was found shot to death in an apartment complex in the 10900 block of Tanner Park Court about 8:30 p.m. March 1, after police got a report of shots bei ... More >>

Karaoke Murder: Unidentified Male, Bayou Body Count No. 21

Be careful what you sing: A man was shot to death in southwest Houston early this morning because, police say, of a dispute over his karaoke choice. The unidentified male sang at Ostioneria Mazatlan in the 6400 block of Hillcroft around 2:30 a.m. and then got into an argument with another group at ... More >>

James Kong: Child Porn And A Whole Lot Of Guns & Ammunition

A very well-protected child-porn stash​Child-porn investigators had their man: James Kong, 26. They knew he'd been exchanging child pornography on his computer, but they got a little surprise when they knocked on his door in the 16800 block of Gaelic Lane in the northwest part of the county. ... More >>

Markayle D. Mosley, 22, Bayou Body Count No. 16

Gunned down in an apartment complex.​A man was shot to death in an apartment complex near Hobby Airport Friday, police say. Markayle D. Mosley, 22, was shot about 5 p.m. in the Crestmont Village Apartments in the 5600 block of Selinsky, HPD says. Their official information is short and sweet ... More >>

John "Steven" Stark: The FBI Defends Calling This Dude "Tall, Dark & Handsome" (UPDATED)

De gustibus non est disputandum, as they say in Latin, which basically means some people's taste sucks but there's no sense arguing with them about it. But we had to take issue with the FBI declaring bank robber John "Steven" Stark, pictured above, as being "tall, dark and handsome." Stark, who is ... More >>

Douglas Demmon: Former National Park Ranger Convicted of Child Porn

National Park Rangers are an American icon, with their Smokey-Bear hats, green uniforms and eagerness to help everyone enjoy the great outdoors. And then there are the Park Rangers like Galveston's Douglas Demmon, who has entered a guilty plea on charges of distributing child porn. Demmon, 65, is ... More >>

Gelareh Bagherzadeh, 30, Genetics Student & Activist Against the Iranian Government, Shot Near Galleria, Bayou Body Count No. 7

A 30-year-old molecular genetics technology student was shot and killed in the Galleria area early Monday. Gelareh Bagherzadeh was shot about 12:30 Monday morning in the 800 block of Augusta. police say. She was shot in her car and drove into a townhome garage. Media reports indicate she was talki ... More >>

Michael Ray Cooper, 28, Bayou Body Count No. 8

Shot to death by a visitor​A man was shot to death in his Sunnyside home Sunday evening, police say. Michael Ray Cooper, 28, had a visitor to his home in the 3600 block of Bloomfield about noon Sunday. "At some point during the visit, the suspect shot and killed Cooper," HPD says. "After the ... More >>

Mark William Woerner: Urged Kids to Take His Child-Porn Collection to School

Share it with your school pals.​Mark William Woerner, 55, is being sent to federal prison for a long, long time -- 80 years, in fact -- and with the evidence produced at his trial, not many people are going to question that. Among his highlights, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office: Posse ... More >>

Death Penalty Is Going Out of Style, New Report Says

Texas is still doing its part​America, you just ain't the criminal-killin' place you used to be. A new report from the Death Penalty Information Center says that for the first time since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, less than 100 executions took place in the U.S. There have bee ... More >>

Patrick Simmons: Most-Wanted Bank Robber Turns Himself In

Patrick Simmons gives up.​The suspected bank robber who was spotlighted by the FBI in a digital-billboard campaign turned himself in to authorities about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the feds say. Patrick Wayne Simmons, who was wanted in a string of eight Houston-area robberies of bank branches located ... More >>

Carrie Kelly: Woman Gets Five Years for Child Porn

Carrie Kelly going away for five years.​It's unusual for a woman to be arrested in a child-porn investigation, and when Brazoria County's Carrie Kelly was picked up last April, some commenters predicted the charges would soon be dropped. But Kelly entered a guilty plea for child-porn distribu ... More >>

DJ Christopher Lowe: Recruited Neighborhood Boys for Child Porn

DJ Christopher Lowe will be going away for a long time.​A "stay-at-home dad" who often watched over neighborhood kids used them to produce child porn, federal prosecutors say. DJ Christopher Lowe, 37, pleaded guilty today to eight child-porn counts. Police discovered him through an investigat ... More >>

Hands-On Experience

Dozens of teenage Explorers have been sexually abused by police officers. Critics say the Boy Scouts, who oversee the program, should share the blame.

Dominic Levar Brown a.k.a. Money Clip D, 34, Bayou Body Count No. 184 (UPDATED)

Dominic Levar Brown, who as Money Clip D was a key assistant and friend to Houston rapper Trae, was shot and killed outside a southwest-side after-hours nightclub early Friday morning, police say. Brown, 34, was outside Breakers in the 9600 block of Bissonnet when he was shot about 5:30 a.m., HPD s ... More >>

Christopher Clark Pollett: Guilty Child-Porn Plea from Kids' Nonprofit Worker

Christopher Clark Pollett, a former employee of well-respected kids-and-family nonprofit agency Neighborhood Centers, Inc., has entered a guilty plea to charges of owning a massive cache of child pornography. Pollett was arrested in January, while still an NCI employee, and charged with possession ... More >>

Ruben O. Agostadero, 15, Bayou Body Count No. 181; Third Teen Killed in a Week

A 15-year-old kid was killed in a southwest-side drive-by shooting Monday night, Houston police say. Both the victim, Ruben O. Agostadero, 15, and his companion, Raul Pillado, 16, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Pillado is hospitalized in guarded condition. HPD says the two were standing outside ... More >>

Horace Jackson, 56, Bayou Body Count No. 179

Shot by a man with a "poofy" pony tail.​A man was shot to death at his Third Ward home by a masked attacker, police say. Horace Jackson, 56, was killed shortly before midnight Saturday at his home in the 6200 block of Sherwood. He suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was found lying on th ... More >>

Heights Burglary Ring Busted

Don't brag on Facebook, kids

High-rise Robbery

Stealing from the rich to...oh, whatever. Funny is the message in Tower Heist.

Abraham Moses Fisch: Made A Million Convincing Defendants He Could Bribe Their Cases Away, Feds Say

He knows people​Houston criminal defense attorney Abraham Moses Fisch is facing a slew of federal charges this morning: conspiracy, obstruction of justice, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and failure to file tax returns, They all stem from what the U.S. Attorney's Off ... More >>

Bennie E. Richardson IV: Says His Massive Child-Porn Stash "Relaxed Him"

Bennie E. Richardson IV liked to relax​Bennie E. Richardson IV, a 40-year-old Pasadena man, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for possessing and distributing child pornography. Looking at the porn was a form of relaxation, he told cops when he was arrested. Richardson was arre ... More >>

Unidentified Male Stabbed To Death, 32, Bayou Body Count No. 160

A stabbing death at four in the morning​A 32-year-old man was stabbed to death in northwest Houston early Sunday morning, police say. They say the man, whose name has not been released pending notification of his family, stopped at a parking lot at 700 West Mount Houston about 4 in the mornin ... More >>

Matthew David Johnson, 47, Bayou Body Count No. 162

Photo by HPDFreddie Clark Jr. faces murder charges​A man was shot to death in his westside apartment and an arrest has been made in the case, Houston police say. Matthew David Johnson, 47, was shot in the chest in his apartment in the 11700 block of Southlake Drive about noon Thursday, Octobe ... More >>

Jesus Enrique Hoffman, 38, Bayou Body Count No. 163

Shot to death in a vacant lot.​A man was shot to death during an argument on the north side Sunday night, police say. Jesus Enrique Hoffman, 38, "had an argument with two unknown Hispanic males" in a vacant lot in the 8600 block of East Hardy about 8:40 p.m. last night, HPD says. "The argume ... More >>

Arturo Enrique Ochoa: Gets 50 Years For Luring Boys His Mom Was Caring For Into Child-Porn Videos

Arturo Enrique Ochoa: Going away for a long time​Arturo Enrique Ochoa, 23, is going to federal prison for 50 years for using candy and video games to lure the young boys his mother was caring for into child-porn videos. Ochoa was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sim lake; he had ent ... More >>

Halley Catherine Shaw, 27, Bayou Body Count No. 158

Photo by HPDDaniel Palacios faces manslaughter charges​A teenager has been charged with manslaughter in the traffic death of a Texas Southern law student. Daniel Garcia Palacios, 17, was fleeing from police in a gray Buick LeSabre about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday when he ran a red light at the 4100 b ... More >>

James Walter Porter Jr.'s Child-Porn Haul: 10,000 Images, Hundreds of Magazines And An MP3 Player For His Post-Office Job

James Porter was a dedicated collector​Former postal worker James Walter Porter Jr., 57, pleaded guilty today to one count of child-porn possession, the U.S. Attorney's Office says, but what a count it was. The Pasadena man had moved out of the house he was renting; the owners then went there ... More >>

That Stolen Renoir Is Probably Sitting In A Garage Somewhere

A problem, not a painting​A Renoir painting was stolen from what we assume is a ritzy westside home earlier this month. So it's probably now hanging on the wall of a unfathomably rich mysterious Russian or Japanese financier, right? Nope. It's probably sitting in the burglar's garage, accord ... More >>

Chevis Cooks, 31, Bayou Body Count No. 135

Two persons shot to death in their cars on the north side Thursday morning.​A man was shot to death in his car in broad daylight on the northside Thursday, Houston police say. Chevis Cooks, 31, was shot in the 5500 block of Kashmere at about 11:30 a.m., HPD says. He was inside his vehicle at ... More >>

Sex Cures Teen Crime

UT study touts teen relationships

Messy Lawsuit Features Rival Crime Scene Clean-Up Companies

A dirty job​Who knew the crime scene/trauma clean-up business was so, um, cut-throat? If the allegations in a local civil court case are to believed, only rival drug lords conduct their business more ruthlessly. According to plaintiffs John DiGulio and K.P. Management, two area men and their ... More >>

Alleged White Supremacists Beat Black Man, But DA Doesn't File Hate Crime Charge

FacebookCharles Cannon won't face hate-crime charges.​In a crime that hearkened back to the skinhead days of the early '90s, or modern-day Dallas, four white men remain behind bars today charged with assaulting a black man at a downtown bus stop early Sunday morning. Police want the incident c ... More >>

Robert L. Hedrick: Pan Am's Big Comeback Likely Stalled With Its President's Child-Porn Indictment

A child-porn indictment qualifies as a wrench in the plans​Robert L. Hedrick made a big splash last October, inviting former Pan Am employees back to Brownsville's original pan Am building to announce the creation of an airline with a similar name that had plans to fly routes from that city to ... More >>

Invasion of Piracy

Illegal downloading costs the film industry billions of dollars per year. But does the legal strategy designed to recoup this lost bounty amount to extortion?

Seven MS-13 Gang Members Indicted Here

Three murders, the feds say.​The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the unsealing of indictments for racketeering and murder against seven members of the notorious MS-13 gang, who have been arrested. The USAO says MS-13 is: a criminal organization in Houston that functioned as a unit engaged i ... More >>

Free Break-In And Giant Dump With Your Heights Car Repair

Photo by Mandy OaklanderBobby Harting is sick of being burglarized and ignored.​Last week, Chris Lawless dropped his car off at Tech Auto Maintenance in the Heights for a repair. He stopped by the next day to find it fixed but picked clean of loose change, hundreds of CDs, and his limited-edit ... More >>

Pedro Rosales: Allegedly Tried to Convince Kid to Take The Rap for His Child Porn

Pedro Rosales: That must have been some other body.​A Houston man caught with a computer full of child porn tried to convince "a juvenile family member" to take the rap for it, the U.S. Attorney's Office says. Pedro Rosales, 32, thought "that if the juvenile claimed the images/videos, the fam ... More >>

Kenneth Randle, Unluckiest Get-Away Driver Ever, Gets 11 Years Because His Pals Were A-Holes

Kenneth Randle: See ya in 2022​A 23-year-old man who sat unarmed as the driver of a bank-robbery car has been sentenced to 11 years without parole mostly, it seems, because his colleagues were violent a-holes. During the $40,000 robbery last October, the three dudes he was working with physic ... More >>

Kevin Quintanilla, 16, Bayou Body Count No. 111

Dead at 16​A 17-year-old male was shot to death about 2 a.m. today in Gulfton, Houston police say. The victim, whose name has not been released, was shot in the chest outside an apartment complex in 5800 block of Glenmont. (Update: Police have identified him as Kevin Quintanilla.) He was tak ... More >>

Double Jeopardy and Roger Clemens: More Than Just a Bad Ashley Judd Movie

Double Jeopardy: Not just a bad Ashley Judd movie.​The Roger Clemens perjury trial finally started last week. Then just as soon as it got started, it was over as an angry judge called a mistrial because of prosecutorial stupidity. There's been a lot of discussion on whether these hearings sh ... More >>

David Aric Ladewig: Child Porn-Laden Laptop Doesn't Make It Through Customs At Bush

Ladewig apparently didn't think feds wouldn't mind his massive child porn stash​David Aric Ladewig is an American citizen who lives and works in Cancun. On a return trip to the states, he brought along his laptop and an external hard drive. Which probably wasn't the brightest of ideas, becaus ... More >>

Mehmood Ghaznavi, 52, Bayou Body Count No. 96

Shootout in a northside jewelry store​A northside jewelry-store owner was shot and killed in a robbery attempt last night, Houston police say. Mehmood Ghaznavi, 52, was in his store, Java Gold, in the 5500 block of Yale about 8:15 last night when one or more males entered the store and attemp ... More >>

Family Sues to Get Attorney's Fees Back Because Their Lawyers Successfully Bribed the Judge

A friendly handshake​A Texas family that successfully settled a wrongful-death suit for big bucks is suing to get back $5.7 million in attorney's fees and expenses because the lawyers used part of that money to bribe the judge. Whatever it takes, right? Be happy with your winnings, right? App ... More >>

Nathan Eugene Davis, 44, Bayou Body Count No. 80

Cross-dresser found shot in head​A man reportedly dressed in women's clothing was found shot to death near an apartment complex Dumpster this morning, police say. The victim, whose identity has not been released, had been shot in the head and left in a complex in the 13300 block of Northborou ... More >>