HOUSTON — Houston police are looking for a teen accused of shooting and killing a 14-year-old in the Spring Branch area.
It happened at the Banyan Shores Apartments on Hammerly Boulevard between Bingle and Blalock a little before 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 20, according to HPD.
Abraham Choukair, 14, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the driver's seat of a vehicle. Court documents said his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
The suspect, Joshua Garcia, 17, was charged with murder on Sept. 5. As of Oct. 15, he remained on the run.
According to court documents, surveillance video from that day shows Choukair parking at the apartment complex. A teen girl then meets with him and walks to the passenger side, where the two make a "hand-to-hand transaction."
After that, a man with a hooded jacket, identified as Garcia, walks towards the car and sticks his hand inside the driver-side window. Choukair accelerates the car and Garcia fires a round, according to court records.
Documents said Choukair made a U-turn and crashed near an apartment fence while Garcia and the teen girl ran away from the scene.
Investigators said they found a phone in the vehicle. When looking through it, they found Instagram messages between Choukair and another account discussing drug and money transactions in exchange for a firearm. Choukair's last message was him saying he was arriving at the apartment complex, according to court documents.
A tip helped police identify Garcia as the man in the surveillance video. Court records said the tipster recognized Garcia and they also said Garcia deactivated his Instagram account a day after the shooting.
Court records said Garcia told another friend that he killed Choukair and planned to go into hiding.
Garcia's mother told investigators she had not seen or heard from her son since the day of the shooting.
Court records show Garcia had been on a 13-month probation sentence for another crime at the time of the shooting. Garcia's probation officer tried to make contact with Garcia but kept getting a disconnected signal. The probation officer positively identified Garcia from surveillance footage.
The probation officer told investigators that although Garcia remained on the run, he continues to "communicate daily" with his mother through WhatsApp, court records said.
The other suspect in the shooting, a 16-year-old girl, was arrested Tuesday and referred to Harris County Juvenile Probation authorities on a charge of capital murder.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or speak anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).