Court records say surveillance video captured the encounter between Jhoan Gomez and a driver he allegedly did not know before the fatal shooting.
HOUSTON, TX — A 19-year-old man has been charged with murder after authorities say an encounter with a stranger in Houston’s Heights ended with a 30-year-old driver fatally shot inside his car.
Jhoan Gomez is charged with murder in the 488th Criminal District Court in connection with the death of Washington, whose first name has been reported as Dreliene by ABC13 and as Drelien in court-record-based reporting by the Houston Chronicle. Police said officers found Washington inside a gray Honda Civic that had crashed into a curb in the 700 block of Cottage Street. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The shooting followed what investigators described as a brief confrontation between Gomez, who was on foot, and Washington, who was driving. Court records cited by local news outlets state the two men did not personally know each other before the encounter. Surveillance footage from a nearby business captured much of the confrontation, according to those records, giving investigators evidence they later used as they identified and questioned Gomez.
Authorities have given slightly different dates for the shooting. Initial police reporting and court-record-based accounts place the shooting shortly after 1 p.m. on Sept. 3, while a Houston Police Department news release issued Sept. 5 lists the shooting at about 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 4. The department’s release says officers responded to the 700 block of Cottage Street and found the crashed vehicle with the wounded driver inside.
According to court records described by the Houston Chronicle, surveillance video showed a man identified by investigators as Gomez approach the open driver’s-side window of Washington’s car. The two had a short conversation before Gomez allegedly fired into the vehicle and ran from the area. Police later used witness descriptions and other evidence gathered during the investigation to identify Gomez as a suspect, the records state.
Gomez gave investigators an account in which he said an earlier incident involving Washington’s vehicle had led to a verbal confrontation, according to court records. He later told police he believed Washington might have been reaching for something before the shooting. The records state Gomez did not report seeing Washington with a gun. Authorities have not publicly announced that a weapon belonging to Washington was recovered from the scene.
Police said Gomez left the area on foot after the shooting. Investigators later located him, and court records cited by the Houston Chronicle say he ran after seeing police near a park before officers caught him. HPD said its Central Patrol Division Crime Suppression Team arrested Gomez after homicide investigators identified him as a suspect. Detectives then consulted with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and prosecutors filed the murder charge.
ABC13 reported that police initially located a possible suspect near the 400 block of Walton Street after the shooting. HPD’s later written release did not provide that location but confirmed that officers arrested Gomez and booked him into the Harris County Jail. The department identified Homicide Division Detectives A. Finlay and B. Stephens as investigators in the case.
Later court-record reporting provided additional details about the events before the shooting. Gomez told investigators Washington had nearly struck him with his vehicle in a nearby parking lot, leading to an argument, according to the Houston Chronicle. Gomez said Washington later drove alongside him while Gomez was walking. Those statements are part of the account attributed to Gomez and have not been established as facts at trial.
The case remains a criminal allegation, and Gomez has not been convicted of the murder charge. The Houston Chronicle reported this week that bail had been set at $250,000, while earlier ABC13 reporting described Gomez as being held without bail. The differing custody reports reflect information published at different stages of the case. Court proceedings will determine the status of the charge and whether prosecutors can prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.