Houston 15-year-old's death ruled 'undetermined' after initially being labeled a suicide

HOUSTON - The death of a Houston 15-year-old initially called a suicide has been changed and is now considered "undetermined."

In January 2022, 15-year-old Zamian Aleman was found stabbed to death inside his mother’s apartment located along the 6500 block of Dunlap Street. At the time, family members say the case was ruled a suicide.

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"He was stabbed in the stomach and on his neck," said Zamian’s father Felipe Aleman. "On his head, he was stabbed twice." 

Within a few months of his son’s death, Felipe says he received audio of a phone call Zamian made to 911 only minutes before he died. In the roughly three-minute phone call, Zamian can be heard telling a dispatcher that someone is trying to sexually assault him and that he doesn’t want to die.

"He’s basically pleading for his life," said Felipe. "[He’s] asking for his life. In one part of it he says he doesn’t want to die. For [authorities] to tell me it was a suicide, I was like, ya’ll don’t hear this phone call? It made me look into it. I’m not going to take that for an answer."

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For roughly a year, Felipe says he kept checking on the case to see if there were any updates. Then, in January the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office switched the ruling from "suicide" to "undetermined."

"Due to the medical examiner changing ruling from suicide to unknown, HPD is investigating the case once again," said a spokesperson from the Houston Police Department.

As the case is now re-opened, Zamian’s family says they remain hopeful to soon learn what happened relating to the 15-year-old’s death.

"I just pray and hope they find some type of answers and the person that did this," said Felipe.