HOUSTON – A body was found in a car trunk in a northeast Houston ditch Monday.
The body was discovered in a car that had crashed in a ditch on the 12800 block of Nimitz Street near Normandy Street. The car was running and the keys were in the ignition, investigators said.
Homicide detectives said they received a call at 4:30 a.m. from someone reporting the crime. Police said the man who approached the vehicle was attempting to steal from it.
"As he was searching the car, he opened the trunk in hopes of finding some speakers, instead he found the body of this man who has been killed," said Jack Harvey with Houston Police Department.
Police said the man, identified as Donald Michael Lapointe, 28, had been shot in the chest and his face was severely beaten. A bag of pills was found hidden inside his underwear, detectives said.
Detectives said the car has not been reported stolen.
Anyone with information is asked to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.