Man arrested after grandmother's body found wrapped in blanket

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A man is charged with murder in the death of his 66-year-old grandmother in northwest Harris County.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said Hazel Billingsley's body was found after 2 p.m. Sunday wrapped in a blanket in a shed behind a trailer home in the 17000 block of E. Longwood Meadows.

Her grandson, Nathan Billingsley, 21, is being blamed for her death. 

Relatives said they don't know why Nathan Billingsley would want to hurt his grandmother.

"He took my mother-in-laws’s life and that’s the only person I know that really cared for him, more than her other grandkids. (She) really favored him most, and I’m just in shock right now. I can’t believe he would do something like that to my mother-in-law." Sunny Zamir said.

Nathan Billingsley and his girlfriend were taken into custody and questioned by homicide detectives, investigators said. The girlfriend was questioned and released.

Investigators said relatives of Hazel Billingsley called 911 Sunday for a welfare check. They told investigators that Nathan Billingsley told them via text message that he would kill his mother and grandmother.

Officials said other relatives who live at the house left Saturday and called to check on Hazel Billingsley Saturday evening. The family did not make contact with her, investigators said.

Family returned to the house Sunday and found Nathan Billingsley and his girlfriend loading belongings into Hazel Billingsley's car, investigators said.

"On the way to church I found out he was trying to lure her to the house – little did I know he had already killed my mother-in-law," Zamir said. "So, when I pulled up he was packing my mother-in-law's vehicle, and when I honked at him he ran in the house. And that’s when I jumped out of the car, started banging on the windows and then I broke the fence to go in the backyard. Looks like he’d already fled and went into the woods and that’s when I ran outside and I told my sister-in-law ‘Call 911! Call 911!’”

The Nathan Billingsley and his girlfriend ran, but sheriff's deputies found them hiding in a nearby wooded area, investigators said.

Investigators confirmed that Billingsley had a gun when they took him and his girlfriend into custody.

It appears the pair had planned to flee in the grandmother's car before they were caught, investigators told KPRC 2.

Harris County homicide detectives later obtained a search warrant for the house. They found blood inside and on a back porch. They then found Hazel Billingsley's body, wrapped in a blanket, in a shed, investigators said.

The Harris County medical examiner left the scene shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday.

Nathan Billingsley has a history of crime, including one charge for theft in Harris County and a  charge for possession of marijuana in Galveston. But KPRC 2 was unable to find any violent offenses.

Billingsley is expected in court Tuesday.

He is being held on a $200,000 bond.

Download the Click2Houston news app in your app store to stay up-to-date with the latest news while you're on the go.

Sign up for KPRC 2 newsletters to get breaking news, sports, entertainment, contests and more delivered straight to your email inbox.


About the Authors:

Award-winning journalist, mother, YouTuber, social media guru, millennial, mentor, storyteller, University of Houston alumna and Houston-native.