HOUSTON — A routine moving job in southwest Houston turned deadly Thursday afternoon when a woman was run over and killed after an argument with a coworker, according to Houston police.
The incident unfolded around 3:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of South Gessner Road, where a three-person moving crew had arrived at an apartment complex for a scheduled job. HPD Lt. Larry Crowson told KHOU that two members of the crew — a man and a woman who were in a dating relationship — got into a heated argument.
Investigators allege the man then climbed into the box truck and intentionally drove over the woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they recovered the vehicle and detained a suspect. KHOU reported that officers later located the moving truck and detained a suspect.
A short time after the incident, South Gessner patrol officers posted on social media that they were at a homicide scene and that a suspect was in custody in the same 2400 block of South Gessner, according to Click2Houston. As of Thursday evening, authorities had not released the names of those involved or announced any charges. HPD's Homicide Division is leading the investigation and detectives were canvassing the area for witnesses while reviewing video and physical evidence, police said.
Investigation and next steps
Detectives are expected to keep interviewing witnesses and combing through evidence as they work to piece together exactly what happened before the truck rolled forward. Part of that effort will be to pin down motive and determine whether the act was premeditated or a split-second decision made in anger.
Once Houston police complete their investigation, the case will be turned over to prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, who will decide what criminal charges to file, if any. As KHOU notes, investigators have not yet released details about potential charges.
Vehicle-as-weapon cases in Houston
The allegation that a box truck was used as a weapon is not without precedent in Houston. In 2018, police investigated a case in which a driver allegedly plowed into a small crowd on Telephone Road, killing one person, Fox News reported. Law enforcement officials say every incident involving a vehicle and a death has to be evaluated on its own facts, including motive, intent and the strength of the evidence.
Anyone with information about Thursday's killing is asked to contact the Houston Police Department's Homicide Division or the department's non-emergency line. Local outlets are continuing to track developments in the case; Click2Houston has additional coverage of the ongoing investigation.
