Man arrested in killing of sleeping woman

Authorities have arrested a man in the death of a 20-year-old woman shot while in bed last month at her Harris County home, according to court records.

Andre Colson, 26, was arrested Friday night and charged with murder in Sierra Rhodd’s Sept 13 death. He is accused of being part of the group that drove to her homein the11200 block of Timber Crest Drive, stepped out of their vehicles and opened fire.

Rhodd, who family members said had cerebral palsy, was in bed at the time of the shooting.

She was dead by the time first responders arrived at the Cypressarea home.

She was not the intended victim of the shooting, authorities said, adding that the shooters were targeting Rhodd’s 15-yearold brother. Court records now show retaliation for an earlier drug rip may have led to the attack.

The brother, who authorities said returned fire during the shooting that killed his sister, revealed to Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators at some point that he robbed aman of drugs and money at a La Quinta Inn.

Court records do not indicate whether Colson, of Prairie View, was who the younger brother robbed.

Colson admitted to being a passenger in a convoy of three vehicles that gathered at a nearby gas station prior to the shooting but denied firing a weapon. Among the 40 to 60 casings that authorities found at the home was one that matches a unique handgun Colson told authorities he has, officials said.

Investigators found text messages on his phone that appeared to taunt him.

An 18-year-old woman was previously charged in Rhodd’s death but a Harris County magistrate dismissed the case for an apparent lack of probable cause. The woman, identified in court records as Emma Lou Presler, told police at the time of her arrest that she encountered the convoy of vehicles and followed them before and after the shooting. She met aman whomatched Colson’s description.

Surveillance footage corroborated parts of her account, records show.

She said she was in the neighborhood to pick up her boyfriend, authorities earlier said.

Colson, who has no other criminal history in Harris County, was ordered held at theHarris County Jail on an $80,000 bond.

Rhodd’s parents were inside the home and watching TV at the time of the shooting. The investigation garnered mounting intrigue in the followingweekwhen her father, Michael Rhodd, was shot and killed during an argument with his father-in-law.

The incident is not believed to be connected to his daughter’s death, authorities said. No charges have been filed and the shooting of Rhodd’s father remains under investigation.

Before his death, Rhodd’s father had said he wanted his daughter’s killer to be caught.

“She never hurt anybody,” he said at the time. “She was always worried howeverybody else felt.”