'It just makes you question how safe is Houston?,' says family of man killed in front of son
HOUSTON - The family of a Houston man who was shot and killed right in front of his son is now speaking out. The family of Charles Dade, 51, tells FOX 26, they are in search of answers.
"He had absolutely no chance of surviving. No chance of fighting for his life and no chance of running," said Darren Crumity, Cousin and local pastor. "It just makes you question how safe Houston is?"
The shooting happened in West Houston, off South Dairy Ashford Road. Crumity said Dade was with his son, Daniel Modicue, at a self-serve car wash when the two were approached by two men in ski masks.
"One guy snuck up from the back and they both shot him, he received bullets from the back and from the front," said Crumity.
The son, who is in his 20s, was there and managed to escape.
"He saw them shoot and kill his father, and after they finished and killed his father, they said, ‘where’s the other one at?’"
Houston police say the suspects were two Black men who approached and attempted to rob them at gunpoint. One suspect began pistol-whipping the son and was shot in the leg. The second suspect then shot his father, killing him.
Crumity tells us he’s astonished by how brazen this crime was.
"These guys were bold because they even did it knowing the police station was right across the street, down the sidewalk," said Crumity.
Crumity says Dade was a pillar for the family. A caring guy who was killed right down the road of a Montessori school he ran with his wife.
"They didn’t just take a branch from the family tree, they took the root," said Crumity.
Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.