"He just had a good personality and stuff," said classmate Crystal Williams. "He was smart."
November 24, his mother, Tabassum Khan, was stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with her son. Police say he claimed he was in Galveston that night. That raised suspicions.
"This was a strict Muslim family and Danish never would have been allowed to be out all night," said Sgt. Brian Harris with HPD homicide.
Then, recently at Lee High School, a classmate, Nur Mohamed, 18, was arrested by HISD police on a charge of drug possession. Homicide detectives interviewed him, saying he confessed to Ms. Khan's murder and that he was paid to do it by her son.
Detectives also say both suspects confessed, but Minhas has shown no remorse.
The motive, police say, is that his mother was too strict.
"No different than any other restrictions than any other parent of a teenager would apply on them who was being a responsible parent, and he didn't want to follow those rules," said Sgt. Harris.
Both Minhas and Mohamed are now charged with capital murder, for which there is no bond. Oddly enough, classmates voted Minhas most likely be become a police chief. But the detective who spoke to him says there was chilling moment that he won't forget.
"During one point in the interview, he said, 'I loved my mother to death,'" said Sgt. Harris. "I guess he meant that literally."
Investigators say Minhas gave Mohamed $1,000 cash as a down payment to kill his mother. He allegedly stood lookout as his mother was stabbed more than three dozen times. The money is said to be cash she had set aside to pay bills.
