Slaying victim recalled as ‘very selfless’
Police believe ex-girlfriend shot him outside an area gym
Al Memovic, a top local salesman for TelePacific Communications, left his Galleria-area office in shirt sleeves on Tuesday to meet with an ex-girlfriend outside a southwest Houston gym.
The outgoing guy — whose previous career as a paramedic gave him a way with people — never returned.
The encounter took a violent turn, resulting in daytime gunfire that left the 29-year-old Memovic dead.
According to Houston Police Department officials, the ex-girlfriend, Veronica Erin Staley, admitted to shooting Memovic during an argument around 1 p.m. Tuesday in the 6300 block of Fairdale. The incident happened in a parking lot across the street from One2One Training Center.
The 34-year-old woman was charged Wednesday with one count of murder.
“We just couldn’t believe it,” said Brad Mitchell, president of TelePacific Texas, who interviewed Memovic last year. “It’s a terrible tragedy. We’re all pretty much in a state of shock.”
A video of the shooter dresssed in pink and green workout clothes leaving the scene prompted Staley’s relatives to contact police. She was arrested
at their home in northwest Houston.
Authorities searched her car and found a gun inside that is believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, police said.
It is unclear how Memovic and Staley became acquainted, but their relationship appears to have blossomed — possibly to an engagement — then deteriorated over the last 18 months, according to social media posts.
Staley described herself online as an actress and entertainer with her own craft bartending catering business.
Since he was hired in September, Memovic had hit his stride as an account executive for TelePacific — an internet, data and cloud services provider based in Los Angeles.
Mitchell said he liked him immediately.
“You could tell he was just a good guy — very focused and very determined,” he said.
Mitchell said he received reports that Memovic’s instinct as an emergency responder kicked in during last month’s severe Houston flooding.
“He was actually out there rescuing people from their cars that had gotten flooded,” he said. “He was a very selfless person. Very well respected. Very loved.”
Memovic was the Houston satellite office’s top salesperson this year among eight account representatives.
“Between his sales and his work ethic, there are a lot of people whose eyes were on him to see what to do,” said Shawn Kassoff, general manager of TelePacific’s Houston office who also had been Memovic’s boss at a previous company. “He was a good guy — a smart guy. He was definitely a leader.”
Kassoff entered the office on Wednesday to see a reminder of Memovic’s absence.
“He left his suit jacket on the back of his chair,” the manager said. “It was the one thing I noticed. It was a little much to deal with.”
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Memovic — who grew up and lived in Jersey Village — has been licensed as a certified emergency medical technician since 2006.
In his late teens, he was a volunteer with the Jersey Village Fire Department, Chief Mark Bitz said Wednesday.
He graduated from Baylor University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and friends said he also spent time in medical school.
Orion EMS owner Gerard O’Brien said Memovic was “a well-liked and wellrespected medic” when he worked for the Houston ambulance service in recent years.
Memovic — whose full name was Aljosa Memovic — was a polyglot of Bosnian heritage who counted Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian among the languages he spoke in addition to English.
According to Facebook, he enjoyed American football as well as international soccer and enjoyed rooting for Bosnia in the World Cup.
When officers arrived at the shooting scene on Tuesday, witnesses told them Memovic was walking through the parking lot when a woman, later identified as Staley, assaulted him before opening fire. She sped away in a black Hyundai Genesis.
Memovic received multiple gunshot wounds and lacerations. He was pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Hospital, police said.
An autopsy was performed at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences on Wednesday, but the final report was not complete late Wednesday.
Staley, who is listed with a Galveston address in charging documents, is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning. She remained in custody late Wednesday on $50,000 bail.