Infant Shot Dead In Fathers Arms

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Police in Houston are investigating three men after one of them started shooting at a man taking his 10-month-old son for a walk at an apartment complex and shot the infant, killing the child in his father’s arms.

Police Chief Art Acevedo called the slaying of Messiah Marshall “callous and cowardly” and promised his department “will not rest until we bring three cowards into custody.”

“You don’t shoot at a man carrying his 10-month-old son, you don’t shoot multiple rounds at a man that’s running trying to protect his son, you don’t take the life of a 10 month-old child,” 

Acevedo said at a news conference. “You know, there’s lines you cannot cross and a line was crossed.

“I don’t know about the rest of this community, but I can tell you we are angry here and we are angry because there is no excuse in this day and age to cross this line.”

Authorities said that the 22-year-old father, whose name has not been disclosed, was approached by the trio on Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex on the city’s southwest side, as he was helping his young son walk while taking out the trash.  An argument began and one of three men pulled a pistol and began shooting. As the father ran carrying the boy, the child was hit.

Witnesses at the scene said the father ran to a nearby gas station, screaming for help with the lifeless baby in his arms.

“I went to put gas in my car and later I saw a guy coming around with a little baby and he said, ‘Somebody shot my baby,’ and I am close to him and I’m in shock and when I saw the baby, I just started screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,” said a witness on the scene.

Paramedics were alerted but the little boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

Acevedo declined to speculate on a motive and authorities have said the father told them he didn’t know the three men.

“Bottom line is … it doesn’t matter what motivated them,” Acevedo said. “To me, I don’t care what was going through their minds.”

Acevedo said that he believed someone at the complex saw the shooting and knows who the suspects are. He urged witnesses come forward despite fears of retaliation.

“When a little kid gets shot and killed … we’re not going to put up with this,” the chief said. “Gangsters killing each other, not good. But gangsters, and these are going to end up being gangsters, killing a 10-month-old boy being held by his father, that’s outrageous.”

Anyone with information should contact the Homicide Division at the Houston Police Department or call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).