Moms outraged with HPD over slow-moving search for their sons' shooter a month later

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's been more than a month since the Houston Police Department responded to a shooting at an auto body shop on Lee Drive near Velma in Humble.

Rafael Smith, 32, remains in the hospital, while 33-year-old Jahmar Sampson is dead.

The shooter is on the run.

"One minute, I'm talking to him (at) 6 o'clock. Nine o'clock, he's been shot," Latosha Smith, Rafael's mother, said. "It has been highs and lows because you didn't know. Uncertainty. Once he got through the worst, he's still in for a long recovery."

SEE MORE: HPD trying to find man who opened fire on his 2 co-workers at NE Houston body shop

Houston police said their homicide division took over the investigation.

Nearly a month ago, detectives told ABC13 that the shooting suspect worked at the auto body shop and ran away before they arrived.

These mothers claim detectives haven't prioritized their case.

"They don't work on weekends, or they're off on holidays," Rhonda Bailey, Sampson's mother, said. "What are we paying the police department for? They (are) always talking about how crime is high, but your detectives (are) not contacting the parents, not keeping us posted."

For these moms, justice means so much.

"I can't walk up and hug and kiss my child, but (the suspect's) out there on the run. (Police) waited too long," Bailey said. "That was my only child. That was the love of my life."

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