HOUSTON — The man accused of killing a woman from Nepal inside of her southwest Houston apartment is expected to appear before a judge Tuesday morning.
The city’s Nepali community members are asking Houstonians to pack the courtroom for the hearing.
“Not only the Nepalese community, every community can come join us tomorrow in support for Muna’s justice,” said Nepalese Association of Houston board member, Drona Gautam. “We’re going to ask for the maximum penalty for this criminal person.”
It’s been one week since 21-year-old Nepali immigrant Muna Pandey’s body was found inside her apartment unit.
She’d been shot three times in the torso and once in the back of the head, “execution style," prosecutors said.
The suspect, Bobby Shah, 51, is the man seen in a still frame from a security camera outside of Pandey’s apartment unit.
Shah is charged with capital murder and is being held without bond.
Gautam knew Pandey from the restaurant where she once worked off Hillcroft.
“How could that person do it?” Gautam asks. “I cannot even think about it.”
The Nepalese community leader is asking members of his organization, as well as the rest of Houston, to pack the courtroom where Shah will appear before a judge.
Gautam said the murder is still the primary topic of discussion in Houston’s Nepalese community.
He said the one question nobody can answer with any confidence – is why?
“We don’t know exactly what happened,” Gautam said. “We don’t know what is the motive behind it.”
Pandey’s mother is reportedly still trying to get approval for a travel visa to come to Houston so that she can say goodbye to her only child.