Houston Murders Reach China

Mysterious Cypress family murders become headline news in China: Sheriff vows to track down the killers

With few leads and clues, the Harris County Sheriff's Office is turning to Chinese-language media outlets to help solve a horrific quadruple murder case in Cypress.

Fifty-year-old engineer Maoye Sun and his wife Mei Xie, 49 — both naturalized Chinese immigrants — were found shot to death inside their family home on Jan. 30 along with their two young sons — only 7 and 9 years old. Sheriff Adrian Garcia has vowed to track down the killer or killers, but admits investigators have little information.

The murders have become headline news on China's central state-run TV channel.

The victims have no reported family in the United States. As such, detectives are working with news reporter Tiffany Zhang with ITV Ch. 55.5 — one of Houston's most-established Chinese-language channels — to help spread the word throughout the local Chinese community and beyond.

“This is just a single family here," she tells KHOU Ch. 11. "So we just try to do from the outside, as brothers and sisters, to do things we can.”

The Cypress murders have become headline news in China, with stories broadcasting on the state-run China Central Television (CCTV). Recent reports note that the victims' siblings have been notified and plan to travel to the United States to identify the bodies and attend a Houston memorial service.

With no known witnesses or reports of gunshots near the victims' home, rumors of a professional hit man and targeted killings continue to circulate throughout Houston's Chinese community. According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, gun control and issues of self-protection have become hot topics among local immigrants in the wake of the murders.

Watch the KHOU Ch. 11 report:

A gruesome family murder in Cypress is making headlines on China's state-run CCTV network.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”