Teen found dead in crashed car may have been committing drive-by shooting, sheriff says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Deputies believe a teenager may have been carrying out a drive-by shooting before he was shot by someone in the same car and crashed into a residence in north Harris County Monday morning.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said deputies initially responded to the call thinking it was just a car crash in the 12000 block of Marsham Circle. However, when units arrived at the scene, they found the teenage driver dead with gunshot wounds.

Investigators said this may have been targeted violence between teenagers, with a witness telling them he was shot at before the driver of the car was killed.

The family told that the driver was 18-year-old Jesus Zamores, and the person in the passenger seat is 14 years old.

According to HCSO, two teenagers in a black Hyundai Sonata allegedly shot at another teenager who was waiting at the bus stop. That’s when the driver of the Hyundai appeared to have been shot by his passenger.

“The witness reported that he was waiting for a bus when the vehicle drove by and shot multiple gunshots at him,” Sgt. Ben Beall with HCSO said. “He ran away, the vehicle circled around, came back, and apparently when they were trying to shoot him a second time, the passenger shot the driver.”

The passenger reportedly ran off after the shooting and, so far, has not been tracked down.

Beall said they believe the black Hyundai the teens were driving was stolen, as Pct. 4 reported a car just like it that had been hotwired and taken from a home about two miles away from the shooting scene.

ABC13 tracked down the original owners of the car.

Marvin Ramos said when he noticed the car stolen, the 27-year-old asked neighbors if they saw anything, and then he called 911.

“It was around like 6:30 (in the morning) when the lady told me the car had gotten in a car accident, and that is pretty much what I knew until later,” Ramos said. “They told me somebody was dead.”

The sheriff’s office said that the house the car crashed into was badly damaged. The four people who were home when the crash happened were not hurt, according to deputies.

Deputies are looking into why the teenagers were targeting the other young person.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez asked residents in MUD 150 to check their surveillance cameras for footage of the black four-door Hyundai Sonata that was involved in the incident.

The initial call for service came in at 6:29 a.m. on Monday, but gunshots may have been heard just before that time. Gonzalez also asked residents near the scene of the crash to look for video of the teen fleeing from the vehicle.