Teens accused of luring man, then stabbing, beating, lighting him on fire

HOUSTON – Two teenagers have been charged in the case of a man whose body was found beaten and set on fire last week in east Houston and now disturbing details are being revealed in the case.

Courtney Burks, 18, and Shaquan Bennett, 18, are charged with capital murder.

According to Houston police, the body was dumped behind an abandoned house near the intersection of Market Street and the East Freewayon the morning of March 17, covered in a blanket and trash and then set on fire.

Court records show David Standley suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his head and face. Standley was wearing jeans and a belt, but the rest of his clothes had been burned.

Prosecutors said investigators traced phone calls from Standley's phone to the cell phone number of Bennett's mother, who lives in Missouri City. 

A witness told police Standley was seen on his computer negotiating a price for sex with a woman, who also asked him to bring her chicken wings, prosecutors said.

According to investigators, Bennett said he waited in the bathroom and when Standley arrived at the apartment with the chicken wings, police said Bennett, by his own admission, used a bed rail to beat Standley and Burks repeatedly stabbed Standley with a meat fork. 

Bennett told police he and Burks wrapped Standley's body in a car cover from his vehicle and tied duct tape around the cover, prosecutors said.

Bennett said they took the body outside through a fence and then emptied a bottle of lighter fluid onto the body and set it on fire, according to investigators.

According to prosecutors, Burks said she only brought the tools and that Bennett, by using an internet dating website, used her to lure men into the apartment to rob them.

Burks and Bennett were arrested Thursday. They are being held without bond.

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