A 17-year-old mother and her older brother were shot and killed Sunday morning in North Houston, and the young woman's ex-boyfriend, the father of her child, is now in custody, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The gunfire erupted a little before 11 a.m. outside a trailer home on West Canino Road, turning an ordinary family morning into a deadly double shooting.
According to preliminary information from investigators, the 17-year-old was outside her trailer with her toddler, and was in the act of handing the child to a family member, when her ex-boyfriend arrived at the scene. Deputies say the man, believed to be 19 years old, was armed, and a fight broke out between the two before the confrontation escalated into gunfire in the yard of the home.
The young woman's older brother, who was 29, walked outside to try to de-escalate the situation as the dispute intensified. Deputies say the brother stepped in front of his sister in an attempt to protect her, but the ex-boyfriend allegedly opened fire and shot both siblings multiple times before either could get away from the gunman.
Both the 17-year-old mother and her older brother died from their injuries, deputies said. The suspect fled the scene in his vehicle immediately after the shooting, prompting a swift response as a description of the man and his car was put out to all area law enforcement agencies across the region within minutes of the gunfire.
Shortly thereafter, officers with the Humble Police Department, along with the Harris County Sheriff's Office K9 unit and District Group patrol deputies, located the suspect's vehicle in the 8800 block of Wilk Lake Road. Deputies say the man gave up without any trouble and was taken into custody there without incident, ending the search a short time after the killings on West Canino Road. Investigators said they believe they also recovered the pistol used in the shooting.
The child at the center of the deadly encounter, the 17-year-old's toddler, was not harmed during the shooting, deputies said, a small measure of relief in an otherwise devastating morning for the family. The suspect was taken to the sheriff's office at 601 Lockwood, where he was being interviewed by detectives as the investigation continued.
Investigators said the mother of the two victims was also at the scene and was shot at during the confrontation. In the space of a few minutes she had lost both a daughter and a son, and deputies said the family, who had been cooperative with investigators as they grieved, were living through what one described as the worst day of their lives.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect as Angel Javier Rodriguez, who has been charged with capital murder in connection with the two killings. Investigators noted that the young child caught in the middle of the violence had, in effect, lost both parents, with the mother dead and the father now facing the prospect of prison, and said the case remained under active investigation as deputies worked to talk to witnesses and gather surveillance. The identities of the 17-year-old mother and her 29-year-old brother had not yet been publicly released.