Bail was set at $250,000 this week for a 19-year-old who was charged with murder after authorities say he snuck out from a trip to get wings with his mom and brother and fatally shot a driver leaving Whataburger in the Heights.
Jhoan Gomez was later arrested in connection with the Sept. 3 shooting, which happened shortly after 1 p.m. in the 700 block of Cottage Street in the Heights. Houston police officers who responded to the scene found a gray Honda Civic crashed into the curb with the engine still running, authorities said.
Man found fatally shot after vehicle crashes in southeast Houston, police say
The driver, Drelien Washington, 30, had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neither Gomez nor Washington has a criminal history in Harris County, court records show. A message was left with Gomez's attorney Tuesday.
Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station captured the shooting, showing a thin, Hispanic male with floppy hair walking up to the driver's side window of the victim's car, court records state.
Police identified the male as Gomez through witness descriptions and black basketball shorts they found at Gomez's home after obtaining a search warrant, court records state. Gomez was seen on the surveillance footage having a short conversation with Washington before shooting him multiple times through the open driver's side window, court records state. Gomez then fled on foot, court records state.
Gomez walked to a nearby park later that day and saw police cars, according to court records. He ran but was caught.
In an interview with police the day after the shooting, Gomez initially told police he was acting in self-defense. But when police told Gomez his story didn't match the surveillance footage, Gomez said Washington had almost hit him in the Whataburger parking lot earlier, which led to a verbal altercation.
Gomez told police that as he was walking home shortly afterward, Washington drove up next to him and claimed he knew who Gomez was and that he believed he had beaten up one of his friends, court records state.
Gomez told police he thought Washington "may" have reached for something, but said he didn't see a gun after shooting Washington multiple times, court records state.
Gomez told police that after the shooting he went home, ate wings his mother bought and took a shower before going to the park to smoke, court records state.
Police interviewed Gomez's mother, who said she drove Gomez and his brother to get wings for lunch and stopped to go inside an Exxon gas station on the way, court records state. Gomez's mother said when she got back to the car, Gomez was gone. She tried to call him multiple times, but got no response.
When she finally did get hold of her son, the mother told police Gomez sounded out of breath, which worried her, court records state. Gomez told his mother he was out of breath from running and that his heart hurt, his mother told police.
When Gomez's mother reached home, Gomez was already there, about 30 minutes after she last saw him at the gas station.
A witness who was driving in the same area told police he saw Washington make a turn that seemed last minute at the intersection and then pull up to the curb, court records state. The witness said he saw a Hispanic male approaching and then shortly after heard gunshots, court records state.
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This article originally published at 19-year-old charged with murder after fatal shooting in Houston's Heights.