2 people charged in death of man found burned under pile of trash in east Houston
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Prosecutors say a man and woman used an explicit dating website to lure a man to his death.
The body of that man was found on March 17, burned under a pile of trash.
According to court documents the victim has been identified as 56-year-old David Standley.
Police said Standley's body was burned after he was savagely beaten and stabbed.
According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, he was only identified through fingerprints.
Prosecutors said Standley was lured to an apartment on Market Street in Houston's Fifth Ward on Friday, March 17. Investigators said Standley went there after answering an ad on the website Snapsext.com - a site that advertises partially nude women, picture trading, and encourages people to "hookup online now."
According to investigators, Standley was attacked by Shaquan Bennett once Standley was upstairs inside the apartment.
"This defendant came out of the bathroom and beat the complainant-victim, with a bed rail," said one prosecutor in court.
Bennett and Courtney Burks, both 18 years old, are accused of capital murder. Court documents show they allegedly killed the victim while robbing him.
"This defendant said the female then grabbed a meat fork and repeatedly stabbed the victim," that prosecutor continued.
A judge found probable cause to hold Bennett and Burks for trial.
According to authorities, Bennett told police they wrapped up Standley's body in a car cover found in his vehicle, then secured it with duct tape before dragging it down a flight of stairs and through a fence behind the apartments.
Detectives said the suspects then doused the body in lighter fluid and lit it on fire.
"You never really know what people are doing," said property manager Joyce Smith.
Joyce said neither Bennett nor Burks were the tenants of that apartment. The attack, Joyce said, was too close to home.
"It could actually happen anywhere," Joyce said.
Bennett and Burks are still in jail, held without bond.
Report a typo to the ABC13 digital staff
