Police say Owena McHenry's body was discovered around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at the 5800 block of Flamingo Drive by her daughter and grandson. Authorities say McHenry was found in the bedroom of her home with a gunshot wound to the head. Just hours earlier, she had reported a shooting at her house.
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Police say as people were ringing in the New Year, someone sneaked into McHenry's backyard and fired seven shots into her bedroom. Before her death, she told her neighbor about the frightening close call.
"She said somebody shot through my window. She said, 'If I would have been laying on that side where I usually lay, I would have been dead,'" recalled Cheryl Godfrey, McHenry's friend.
Police now believe the same person returned to kill her.
"We believe the same shooter may have returned this evening to finish what they started on New Year's Eve," said Detective Michael Arrington with Houston police homicide division. "Nothing was stolen or looted so it does look like someone wanted to kill her, but we don't know why at this time."
According to investigators, McHenry's grandson was going to stay the night with her but when they arrived at her home it was too late. They believe she was killed during a five-and-a-half-hour window, between 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on New Year's Day.
McHenry's family told police she had lived in that home for over 50 years and described her as a very generous person who was well-loved by her neighbors.
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"I am just heartbroke. She was someone special."
Police are asking for witnesses who saw vehicles or anyone walking around on New Year's Eve to call Crime Stoppers or HPD homicide.
SEE ALSO:
Family matriarch likely killed by celebratory gunfire in N. Harris Co.
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