Jennie Hitt, 87, had lived in her northwest Houston home on Glen Echo Drive since 1988. Court filings accuse Tiffany Larke Thomas and her son, Malik Slone, of using false claims and documents to gain control of the property, which was transferred for $10 in November 2025. Both face felony charges.
Records obtained by ABC13 show Thomas and Slone were arrested and charged with felony exploitation of an elderly individual, forgery, and theft. The court filings allege the pair used fraudulent documents to gain control of Hitt's home and bank account, saying they “obtained and exercised control” over her property.
Court documents say Thomas first came to Hitt's home in October 2025, claiming to be a Harris County inspector. The next month, after Hitt fell and needed hospital care, a neighbor contacted Thomas for help, believing she worked for the county.
Power of Attorney Obtained Under False Pretenses
According to court documents, Thomas told Hitt she needed to grant power of attorney and medical power of attorney before she could be taken to the hospital, and Thomas obtained both documents. The station's report says Thomas is accused of forging a notary's signature on Hitt's warranty deed. Court records say the deed was transferred for $10 in November 2025.
Court documents say Slone took ownership of the home after the transfer. A separate account published by Yahoo News says Hitt transferred the property to Thomas for $10 and also describes Slone as allegedly taking ownership. The account puts the home's value at more than $207,000, a figure not independently verified in the records reviewed here.
Hitt's grandson eventually reported the situation to the Houston Police Department, according to the court documents.
A Car With a 'County Inspector' Sticker
In December 2025, a detective with HPD's financial crime division visited Thomas's home to speak with her, court documents say. The detective found a car in the garage with a “county inspector” sticker. Thomas reportedly told the detective she worked for the Appraisal Review Board, but ABC13 said it was still trying to verify that claim; no Harris County role for Thomas has been established in the reporting cited here.
Investigators also reviewed Thomas's notary application, which court documents say contained several false statements. Thomas is a licensed notary, according to ABC13 Houston. A Yahoo-published account says Hitt now lives in a nursing home and that her grandson reported the home's title was returned to her name after a lengthy civil court process, as reported by KHOU 11. That account of the title's return has not been corroborated here with a primary civil-court record.
Thomas bonded out of jail by Saturday night, per the same court documents reviewed by ABC13.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Harris County
The allegations come as Harris County officials pursue other deed-fraud cases. Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin announced two civil lawsuits in September against nine people accused of working together to claim properties fraudulently, Click2Houston reported. County officials said the lawsuits involved at least 10 properties; rightful owners had lost access to about seven, each valued between $100,000 and $250,000.
In some of those cases, investigators found that a deceased homeowner's identity was allegedly used to transfer property before heirs knew about it, Click2Houston reported. The Houston Chronicle has also reported on two county lawsuits alleging forged signatures, fake identities and deception of notaries in schemes involving dozens of properties. One lawsuit, filed August 11, accuses Antia Martinez, David Carmona and five others of transferring properties among themselves to conceal alleged fraud. Another accuses Mario Cavazos, Amelia Martinez and Maria Del Rosario Gonzalez-Garcia of an “organized and broad scheme” involving forged signatures of deceased property owners.
The Chronicle also noted that Alba and Jarin Martinez were ordered last year to pay $1.2 million in restitution to buyers swindled in fraudulent sales involving 40 properties, and that Texas Senate Bill 647, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in 2025, established a process for county clerks to seek additional documentation before recording potentially fraudulent deeds. Whether Thomas and Slone's case will be formally linked to those broader county lawsuits remains unclear from the available court records.
How property owners can get recording alerts
Harris County property owners can register for the county clerk's free Property Alert System, which sends alerts when documents are recorded under a registered name, according to the Harris County Clerk's Office. The office cautions that the system provides notice of matching recorded instruments but does not prevent a real-property instrument from being recorded.
