HOUSTON — The new details released Thursday in a deadly hit-and-run case out of southwest Houston are just awful.
According to court documents, 38-year-old Jordache Lenton ran over a homeless couple under the Sam Houston Tollway while fleeing an earlier crash.
After running over the couple, Lenton allegedly got out of the car and tried to move their bodies so he could drive away. When that didn’t work, he took off running, leaving the man and woman to die.
Police later in the day tracked down and arrested Lenton. He is charged with two counts of failure to stop and render aid, resulting in death. The medical examiner has released the names of the victims, identified as Michelle Beach and Eugene Stroman.
Investigators said there were just four minutes that separated the first crash that Lenton sped away from and the second one that killed the couple.
The people in the first crash said they confronted Lenton in a parking lot late Tuesday where he got out of his car slurring his speech and wreaking of alcohol. He told them he was out on bond and begged them not to call police.
They also said there was another passenger in the car with him at the time, who got out, grabbed a bottle of alcohol and took off.
Court documents indicate Lenton then got back in his car and drove just about two miles before losing control of his Lexus, killing that couple.
"It's a very very tragic scene," Sean Teare with the Harris County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday. "The two died together. It was obvious they were together in life as well. Every one of these scenes is sobering. This one is very, very tragic."
Records show Lenton was out on bond for sexual assault of a child and unlawful restraint when police say he caused that deadly crash. Lenton is expected in court Thursday morning.
ALSO POPULAR ON KHOU.COM