Response delay in case of slain woman probed
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is investigating why it took more than eight hours after the first 911 call came in before homicide investigators saw the body of a 52-year-old woman, suspected to have been shot to death by her son, at her home.
Investigators believe the office’s 911 dispatch system couldn’t locate the woman’s specific address because it was in a neighborhood full of duplexes, according to Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland, spokesman for the sheriff ’s office. But the confusion, combined with unsuccessful efforts to canvas neighbors about gunshots and a possible disturbance, meant homicide investigators didn’t arrive on the scene until 9 a.m.
Deputies deployed to the Remington Ranch neighborhood, but the dispatch system couldn’t determine the specific address of the caller. Instead, deputies knocked on doors and asked neighbors whether they heard any sort of disturbance or gunshots. No one had and deputies left, Gilliland said.
Then, around 3 a.m., a home alarm in the 1000 block of Verde Trail Drive went off, Gilliland said. Dispatchers connected the two alerts and sent deputies back out to the location, where they found an open garage door.
The deputies then looked through a window, found the home in disarray and entered, finding the body of Anna Iris Melendez, 52, who appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds, Gilliland said. Homicide investigators were called to the scene around 9 a.m.
Sheriff’s office administrators have launched an investigation into the matter, which reviews all aspects of the office’s response — from the dispatch system to the time it took before homicide investigators arrived on the scene, Gilliland said.
Investigators learned Melendez lived at the home with her son and that both he and her vehicle were missing from the garage.
Family members arrived at the home while detectives were starting the investigation and told them her son, Christopher Jose Melendez, 28, had been arrested by Houston police earlier that morning.
Police attempted to pull over Christopher Melendez at around 3 a.m. on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, which led to a police chase, Gilliland said. He was eventually detained and charged with evading arrest, unlicensed carrying of a weapon and driving while intoxicated, Harris County court records show.
Sheriff’s office administrators have launched an investigation into the matter, which reviews all aspects of the office’s response — from the dispatch system to the time it took before homicide investigators arrived on the scene, Gilliland said.