Probe continues
Cops called to home of suspect four times before officer’s death
Salvadoran man held on capital murder charge.
State and federal officials on Wednesday lodged a slew of charges against an El Salvadoran man accused of killing a Houston police officer, starting a possible death penalty case and seeking to detain him here.
Elmer Manzano, 51, is being held on state charges of capital murder of apolice officer, attempted capital murder of a police officer and aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, court records show.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick announced that he did not believe local parties would do enough to keep Manzano behind bars in the death of Houston police Sgt. Harold Preston. His office charged Manzano, who is in the country illegally, with being an alien in possession of a firearm and a felon in possession of a firearm after a search of his residence, Patrick said.
“I have little faith that local charges could be sufficient to hold him,” he tweeted.
The police department’s Tuesdaymorning encounter with Manzano— where he is also accusedof injuring another officer and his 14year-old son — sparked several investigations by local, state and federal agencies. It further raised questions about the implications of Manzano’s immigration status, as well as decisions not to pursue charges against him in the days before the shooting as his estranged wife continued to report him for domestic violence.
“Both of our people, their police officers and our prosecutors, made the best decisions that they could based on the evidence at the time,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said, addressing the scrutiny surrounding the lack of charges following those previous incidents that involved Manzano. “The only responsible party here is the murderer.”
The encounters culminated in a shootout at Manzano’s apartment in the 2600 block of Holly Hall, where Preston and two other officers were watching over the woman as she planned to leave the residence.
Gunfire erupted when Manzano’s 14-year-old son opened the door. Manzano shot the 41-year HPD veteran in the head and wounded Officer Courtney Waller in the arm, police said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to deny bail on all of the offenses. In a proposed order to be signed by a judge, prosecutors mentioned a likelihood that Manzano would face the death penalty “if the law was administered.” He is also a flight risk, given that he is not a U.S. citizen, they said.
The shooting closely followed four domestic violence complaints involving Manzano, on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and officers interacted with the couple
on those occasions. The investigation is revealing that the family was “held hostage” by Manzano, partly because he threatened to have her deported, Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said during an afternoon news conference on Wednesday.
“We’re just grateful that (Preston’s) sacrifice was not in vain,” Acevedo said. “Her nightmare is over.”
Ogg said she has spoken with Acevedo several times since the shooting to discuss the capital charges that would be accepted and the evidence in the case, which includes police body-worn camera footage.
In a phone call with the Chronicle, Ogg outlined the four complaints the wife lodged, starting with her decision on Saturday to report her husband at a southwest Houston police station. Shedid not yet know the details surrounding that complaint or the incident on Monday when Waller encountered the couple, ameeting thatwas not disclosed until Tuesday morning in a phone call with prosecutors.
She said she did not think a fail--
ure to communicate was to blame for the lack of information surrounding those incidents. Acevedo, during the news briefing, said the Monday incident had nothing to do with the shooting.
Waller on Sunday and again on Tuesday morning, moments before he was shot, told prosecutors that he did not believe a crime had been committed. The officer ran Manzano’s name for open warrants but did not find any, police records show.
A background check, if Waller had requested it, would have shown any arrests in Texas or federal records.
Ogg pointed to the quickly changing nature of the investigation and how it could be prosecuted.
Acevedo said he believed the district attorney’s office acted in good faith, especially since the police department did not give them enough cause to pursue charges earlier.
What’s important, he said, is that Manzano is now in custody and his family is safe. The investigation currently is focused on
Tuesday’s events, and the department later will review those previous encounters, Acevedo said.
Both Waller and the son remain in the hospital in stable condition. Manzano is also in stable condition.
Manzano’s criminal record includes three prior assaults in Dallas County, some of which he was on probation for when he was arrested in HarrisCounty in 2002 for evading in a motor vehicle. The probation was then revoked. He was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail, court records show.
An unlawful carry of a weapon charge from 1994 was dismissed. Where Manzano resided in the years after his release was not immediately known.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also placed an immigration hold on Manzano, an El Salvadoran “convicted criminal alien who is unlawfully present in the U.S.,” agency officials said in a statement.
Manzano was not known to be an immigrant in the country illegally ahead of the incident, they confirmed. Local officials added that his immigration status likely wouldn’t come into play until he is released from jail, if at all, pending the outcome of the cases.
Since the implementation of Senate Bill 4 later in 2017, the sheriff’s office has given ICE space in the jail for their own agents to work. SB4 outlawed “sanctuary cities” by mandating that local policework with federal immigration authorities and allowing them to ask about detainees’ immigration statuses.
Houston is not a sanctuary city, and Acevedo has criticized SB4 in the past. On Wednesday, Acevedo said Houston is not a sanctuary “for anyone hurting anyone.”
The sheriff’s office, which manages the jail, cooperates with ICE in that it allows them to screen people after they are booked in the lockup, spokesman Jason Spencer said. When that person is set to be released, the sheriff’s office then notifies the agency.