2 arrested in deadly house party shooting

HCSO: Two dead, 19 others injured

HARRIS COUNTY – Two men have been arrested in connection to Saturday's house party shooting that left two high school students dead and 19 others injured.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office says Willie Young, 21, and Randy Stewart, 18, were arrested Monday morning.

Young is charged with deadly conduct. Stewart is charged with aggravated assault. The charges stem from the chaos at that Cypress house party over the weekend, a party promoted for days on Twitter.

Stewart had a message for one of the victims on his way to jail, "Rest in peace, Qu'eric."

Referring to 17-year-old Qu'eric Richardson, one of two people killed Saturday night, and perhaps our first clue the suspect and victim knew each other.

Lawrence Guidry says his son, Qu'eric Richardson, had a bright future, but instead of making graduation plans, he's now planning his son's funeral.

Qu'eric and his 16-year-old brother, Kenneth, were both shot after two gunmen opened fire at a home on Enchanted Creek Drive at Rising Brook Drive near Cypress.

More than 100 people, mainly teenagers, were at the house when two suspects started shooting. Deputies say the two shooters were not invited to the party, but heard about it through social media.

The two brothers ran together side by side, but in those desperate moments of escape, Kenneth told his dad on the phone that his brother had fallen behind.

"He turned around and Qu'eric wasn't there anymore, so he went back and the people were still shooting, and he found Qu'eric and said Qu'eric wouldn't get up," explained Guidry.

Richardson died at the scene.

"He just kept screaming that Qu'eric was dead," Guidry said. "And I asked him to put him on the phone, 'cause it just wouldn't sink in that he was dead."

Kenneth was shot in the hip and his recovering from his wound.

Stewart's family home is just a neighborhood away from the crime scene. He is not charged with murder, instead aggravated assault against one of the surviving victims, a man who was shot in the arm.

"He pulled out a handgun, pointed it at him and discharged the weapon," the criminal complaint reads.

It's surprising, says a neighbor.

"There's never any trouble of there, they keep real quiet," said  the resident.

Stewart is held on a sizeable $250,000 bond and so is the other suspected shooter -- Willie John-Peters Young. Young, 22, is charged with deadly conduct.

The suspects are accused of randomly firing into a crowd of people, the same scared hysterical teens who rammed themselves into a garage door just trying to get out alive.

"Everybody is scared, everybody is talking about not going to parties anymore, no one is going anywhere anymore and everyone is hurt for their families suffering," said Pierre Etienne, friends of one of the victims.

Like most students at Morton Ranch High School, Etienne and his classmates are still talking about the deadly party over the weekend as they walked home from school Monday. Both victims went to Morton Ranch High.

"Everyone knew on the weekend that today was going to be sad, like, I came inside the morning, most people were wearing black, it was just sad. Barely anyone was talking," Etienne said.

Arielle Shepherd, 16, was killed when the two men started shooting. On Monday people who knew her who were at the party are still in disbelief.

"It was very quiet, and no one wanted to talk about it," said Gabriella Elmefors, friend of the victim.

Some estimate there were nearly 100 people at the party. One teen at the party says Shepherd was shot as she tried to escape the home, but didn't make it to the door in time. Shepherd died after she was transported to Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital.

"We didn't know she was shot because she was under the table. We thought she was still hiding," said Elmefors.

Katy ISD police say students and parents should expect to see beefed up patrols in and around the school through at least the end of the week. Grief counselors will also be available.

The other shooting victims were transported to five Houston-area hospitals. Officials said their injuries ranged from minor to critical.

Authorities ask that anyone with information regarding Saturday's shooting to contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office at 713-221-6000.