Woman killed in home invasion shooting

HOUSTON

Deputies say four to five men opened fire on a family at a home on Sabine Brook Way late Sunday night, killing a mother, and wounding her mother-in-law.

This family had plans for a fish fry for Memorial Day, but instead, they're waking up to tragedy.

Detectives said the motive appears to be robbery, but they're not allowed to elaborate much more beyond that. They are telling us that this may not be a random crime.

"They took somebody from us that we love, that we're gonna miss," Nilita Beal said.

Beal said she and her cousin Kimberly Dodson were like sisters growing up.

"I've never heard her get angry. I've never heard her cuss," Beal said.

Late Sunday night, deputies say four or five gunmen kicked in the front door and opened fire on the two women.

One of those victims was 34-year-old Dodson. She died after being shot in the chest.

The other woman, who police say was her mother-in-law, Deanne Beal, was struck by a bullet in her side. She is at Memorial Hermann hospital and expected to survive.

Deputies said at least one of the women shot back with her gun but didn't strike any of the suspects.

"The house was ransacked," Harris County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ben Beall said.

Investigators said the intruders woke up the mother-in-law's boyfriend, who was asleep upstairs.

"Was told to lay on the floor, not to look around, and sometime after they made contact with him, he heard the gunshots downstairs" Beall said.

Detectives said two children, ages 2 and 5, also were sleeping upstairs. While they weren't hurt, their grandmother, who was shot, helped spare the other grandmother's life. Dodson's mother had just moved in with her because her house had just been broken into.

"In the end, she convinced them, pleaded with them and begged them not to shoot her because she's deaf and blind," Nilita Beal said.

Now neighbors fear for their safety.

"Everybody here's afraid," Valerie Sutton said. "We've been up all night wondering what's going on."

And Dodson's family members are hoping the suspects responsible in her death will be haunted into turning themselves in.

"They'll remember the day they have a sister, mother or cousin, or somebody that they love," Nilita Beal said. "Everybody has somebody in their family that they really love, if they could put themselves in our shoes."

So far, detectives have very vague descriptions of the suspects and the getaway car has been described only as a light-colored, four-door vehicle.

A neighbor ABC13 spoke with said he was told by a witness that the suspects were wearing dark brown caps and masks.

Anyone with information is asked to call authorities.