Man found shot to death on north Houston sidewalk

HOUSTON – A man was found shot to death on a sidewalk Thursday at the intersection of West Riverwood Drive and Merriwood Lane. Police said the man had been shot once in the chest.

"I was just inside and my daughter happened to step outside and say there were cops outside," said Joseph Ramirez.

Ramirez' daughter was the first to tell her dad something was wrong two houses down from the family's home. Ramirez said even after he walked outside and saw several police officers, he didn't initially realize he and his daughter were looking at a murder scene.

"I didn't want her to see it, it's terrible. I told her to go inside once I seen them pull the white sheet out, I was like, 'No, baby, you don't need to see this,'" said Ramirez.

Ramirez, like others in this north side neighborhood, said he heard no gunshots, no yelling -- nothing out of the ordinary until Houston police officers showed up en masse at the corner.

Ethan Nieto's house is at this corner, and he said his little brother was playing video games and happened to see the man walk past.

"He was walking back and forth and he just collapsed right there," said Nieto.

Again, neither Nieto nor his brother initially knew the man had been shot.

"Nobody heard nothing, all of the people around here and we didn't hear nothing. I didn't hear nothing, my little brother didn't hear nothing and he was right in front (of) it playing video games," said Nieto.

Houston police said they believe the shooting was the result of a "drug deal gone bad." Investigator A. Vinogradov said the victim was last seen in a car with two men, but is believed to have been shot on the street.

Police said the man appears to be from the Corpus Christi area, but they are withholding his name until they can contact his family.

Investigators said witnesses reported seeing a newer-model, white Lexus SUV leaving the scene.


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Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.”