Gun used in fatal shooting of Harris County deputy sold to high school student, records show

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A search warrant filed in the case of a fallen Harris County deputy details comments made by one of the defendants just prior to the shooting.

Dremone Francis and Ronald Palmer are charged with capital murder of a police officer. Francis was released on bond two weeks ago and Palmer remains in custody.

Harris County deputies were called out to a Little Caesar's Pizza on the night of July 11 for reports that an employee was pistol-whipped by a customer who was driving a Chrysler 300. Deputy Fernando Esqueda located the car and began following it, according to authorities, in an unmarked truck.

According to a search warrant, Palmer's girlfriend told investigators she was with him in the car and that he took note of the truck following him. When they got home, she said they went inside the home on Blue Wonder Lane and said, "I'm going outside to handle this. I'm not coming back," the search warrant notes.

She told investigators she heard gunfire and Palmer left shortly after.

Esqueda was hit, and his truck came to a rest at the end of the street in someone's driveway. He died.

During their investigation, deputies found 41 spent casings, according to court records. Of those, 26 were from a pistol and 15 were from a rifle. They noted in the search warrant that several were found in a neighbor's driveway, others were found in the grass between Palmer's house and the neighbor's driveway and others were found in the bushes outside of Palmer's front door.

Five neighbors' homes were hit with gunfire, as well as a car across the street.

Francis' attorney was critical of the Harris County Sheriff's Office and the unmarked vehicle that Esqueda was driving. He suggested the shooting would not have happened if Esqueda was in a marked unit.

During an interview with Palmer's wife, she described him to deputies as "having an extremely short temper and advised he owns multiple firearms," the search warrant says.

The search warrant said that Francis, whose girlfriend also lived on Blue Wonder Lane, was at the scene around the time of the shooting. Authorities found that he contacted someone he knew since middle school and gave him the pistol to get rid of. He said he also had a Draco AK-47, but "he could not go get the DRACO at the moment because it was too 'hot,'" according to the court record.

That man, who is not charged, told authorities that he sold the gun for $300 cash to a family member who attended CE King High School.

Law enforcement surrounded a home nearby where the shooting happened the next day, and Palmer surrendered. He remains in jail on a $3.1 million bond.

Francis was released from jail on a $500,000 bond and is subject to house arrest.

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