Police confirm they have Lawrence Chambers in custody and that charges are pending. One neighbor describes the scene inside the house as gruesome, and that the victim's daughter, sadly, won't soon forget.
Laurie, a neighbor, asked, "I mean, what was the sense in it? It's senseless!"
Neighbors on Tidewater Street are struggling to cope with what happened to a mother, Jemal Chambers, 43, and her 13-year-old son inside their family home.
"The child, too -- I don't understand that," Laurie said.
Houston police say Chambers was left beaten and stabbed to death, her son critically injured. Both of them were found by the victim's 14-year-old daughter who arrived home Sunday night after staying with family members over the weekend.
Neighbor Robert Chavis was home when the teen, crying hysterically, knocked at his door and asked for help.
He said, "I walked over there and walked into the bedroom. This lady was lying there in a puddle of blood, her face beat up, stab wounds in her neck. In the corner, her 13-year-old son, he was beat up and stabbed."
Police tell Eyewitness News they have now detained Lawrence Chambers, 40. He's the victim's husband and the children's stepfather, who neighbors say left in his wife's car early Sunday morning.
Neighbors are now remembering the mother who they say welcomed everyone with open arms.
"She has a very forgiving heart," Laurie said. "She would give her last to anyone who would ask and even if they didn't, she would volunteer."
Many are praying for Jemal's teenage daughter, who discovered the gruesome scene.
"That young girl, I can't imagine," Chavis said. "Her life will never be the same. She will have nightmares for the rest of her life."
And for her young son who is now fighting for his life...
"I feel for that child as if it was my own you know," Laurie said. "God has a reason for everything but I just can't believe it."
Police say charges are pending against Lawrence Chambers. He has prior criminal convictions, including drug possession, auto theft and burglary.
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