Man sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder of Houston woman shot while she was sleeping

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — One of four suspects charged in the murder of a woman who was shot to death while sleeping will spend 20 years in prison.

Andre Colson pleaded guilty to the murder of 20-year-old Sierra Rhodd earlier this year. On Thursday, he received his sentence.

Police say he “intentionally and knowingly” fired shots into Sierra’s Cypress home four years ago, in September 2020.

Her then-15-year-old brother was believed to be the target of the shooting.

Colson, along with three other people, was arrested in October 2020, for the murder charge.

The details of Sierra’s murder and the aftermath are memorably tragic.

Investigators said the young woman, who had cerebral palsy, was killed when shots were fired into her home. She was asleep at the time.

Her teenage brother, their mother and their father were at home at the time and not injured.

A week after Sierra’s death, her father, Mike Rhodd, was shot to death during a fight at the home of his in-laws, just hours after a vigil was held for Sierra. His father-in-law said the shooting was in self-defense, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. No arrests were immediately made in that case.

After Mike was shot, his 15-year-old son grabbed a pistol and fired it, investigators said. The teen still had the pistol in his waistband when deputies arrived and had to be tased.