Texas Man Charged With Capital Murder in Shooting Death of 5-Year-Old
Jeremy Porter, 47, was arrested after investigators used automated license plate readers and other evidence to identify him as the suspect in the fatal incident.
A Texas man has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with a roadway shooting that killed a 5-year-old girl over the weekend, authorities said.
Jeremy Porter, 47, was taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail in Houston after investigators identified him as the suspect in the fatal shooting of Zah’Layah Walter, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Investigators utilized evidence, including information obtained through automated license plate readers, to identify Porter. He was arrested less than 24 hours after the shooting, authorities said.
The shooting occurred Saturday night in northwest Harris County. Zah’Layah was riding in a vehicle with her mother, Monica Hicks, and her four siblings when an individual opened fire on their vehicle, the sheriff’s office reported.
Bullets struck the vehicle, and the 5-year-old was killed. Hicks told local outlet KHOU that she was driving home from her mother’s house with her five children when the shots were fired on Grant Road near Jones Road.
“All my kids in the back seat were screaming, and they continued to shoot in my car. And I did not know my daughter was hit until I pulled into my apartment,” Hicks said.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office stated that the investigation is ongoing. The office posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday: “We stood alongside the family of 5-year-old Zay’Layah Walter, whose life was tragically taken in a roadway-related shooting. The person accused of taking her life has been arrested. We remain committed to seeking justice for [Zah’Layah] and supporting her family.”