Houston Toddler Found Dead In Stolen Vehicle After Dad Shot Dead Tuesday

HOUSTON, TX. (THECOUNT) — A 2-year-old Houston boy was found dead Tuesday evening inside a stolen SUV after his father was fatally shot during an argument earlier in the day. Though autopsy results are pending, the boy is believed to have died of heat exposure.

According to police, the tragic turn of events began shortly before 2 p.m. when the 38-year-old shooting victim met up with the suspect on El Camino Del Rey Street for unknown reasons. An altercation erupted between the two men, and the suspect shot the father multiple times.

The suspect then fled in the victim’s SUV, described as a black Chevrolet Traverse or Equinox with a paper license plate.

Meanwhile, police received a call at about 6:30 p.m. from a woman who reported that her husband and child were missing, and the information she provided helped investigators deduce that her husband was the shooting victim, Power1061 reported.

Prior to the woman’s call, however, police were unaware that a child was inside the SUV, which they located about 30 minutes after speaking with the mother.

Responding officers found the child unresponsive in the backseat of the abandoned SUV. Although officers broke the glass to render aid, the child had already died.

The child’s cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, but investigators believe that he died from heat exposure as he may have been in the car over four hours.

Police described the suspect, who remained at large late Tuesday, as a Black man with a slim build and hair on his chin. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts with a “very distinctive” black Raiders hat.

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