Mother, 16-year-old shot at their Hempstead home by mom's ex-boyfriend, family says

HEMPSTEAD, Texas (KTRK) -- A mother and her 16-year-old daughter are in the hospital after they were shot multiple times in Hempstead Wednesday night.

Estella Wilder, 45, and Akyrah King, 16, were just feet away from their home on Third Street and Donoho when they were shot.

Hempstead police have named Eugene Singleton as a person of interest. According to family members, Singleton is Wilder's ex-boyfriend.

According to records, Singleton is a sex offender and was charged with sexual assault in Fort Bend County in 2010. He served six years behind bars.

Wilder ended the relationship about three weeks ago, and those who knew the couple said Singleton wasn't happy about it.

"He was obsessed with my aunt," Wilder's niece Tameka Wilder-Robinson said. "He even told her he was obsessed with her."

Wilder had been so scared that she and her daughter weren't living at home.

Wilder's mom, Doris, said her daughter has even found a camera inside her home, believed to have been placed by Singleton.

"He is a manipulator," Robinson said. "So, if he was to call, he would act like it's nothing, but he really was looking for her. She blocked every number he had. He would call her from apps."

On Wednesday, the mother and daughter returned to the home to shower and grab some belongings.

Robinson says they aren't sure how the gunman knew they would be home.

Both of them were shot just feet away from the front door.

"The first shot was going for her head, it grazed her," Robinson said. "The second shot went in her stomach. He came there to kill them. No doubt."

According to Robinson, the daughter managed to run down the street after being shot. She knocked on several doors until a neighbor called 911.

The mother also managed to use her cell phone to call her own mom for help.

Surveillance footage captured Singleton trying to get into Wilder's car after the shooting.

Her family members believe he took an Uber from Houston, and then ran off on foot once he couldn't get into the car.

Wilder's family is hoping the public can help track down Singleton.

The mother and her daughter both remain in the hospital in critical condition, but are awake and communicating.

"She is scared to come home," Robinson said. "She doesn't even want to come to Hempstead because they don't have him."

Wilder's family believes police failed their family. According to them, she went to Hempstead police several times about Singleton.

"It was ongoing, every day," Robinson said. "They just weren't doing enough. They didn't take it serious."

If anyone has any information about Singleton whereabouts, you are asked to contact Hempstead police.

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