Sons plowed over

Drunk driving shooting mystery takes an even more tragic turn: Grief-stricken dad sits in jail

A Houston-area father has been charged with murder for the shooting death of drunk driver who killed his two children in a Dec. 7 accident.

The man, 31-year-old David Barajas, and his sons David Jr. and Caleb, were pushing the family truck down a rural road near Alvin after the vehicle ran out of gas. Just as they approached their driveway, a car plowed into the Barajas and killed the two boys, aged 12 and 11 respectively.

The driver was dead behind the wheel with a gunshot wound to the head.

The mother, Cindy Barajas, was sitting inside the truck with the couple's 8-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son during the accident.

Witnesses near the crime scene recalled hearing gunshots moments after the crash. Jose Banda — the 20-year-old driver of the car, who was suspected to be intoxicated — was dead behind the wheel with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators ruled his death a homicide, but were unable to find a murder weapon at the scene.

While incident remained draped in mystery for much of December, Barajas family reached out to KHOU Ch. 11 with claims of being threatened on Facebook. The couple temporarily relocated amidst online accusations that Cindy has been the shooter.

After several months of investigative work, authorities indicted David Barajas for murder late last week. He turned himself in two days later and remains in jail on a $450,000 bond.

Dominick Sanders, an investigator with the Brazoria County Sheriff's Department, tells the Associated Press that witnesses reported seeing Barajas walk into his home after the crash and return to Banda's car a few minutes later. Authorities have yet to locate a murder weapon, but a search of the Barajas home uncovered bullets that match the one used to kill the driver.

Sanders said that the Sheriff's Office was awaiting results from two tests — one of gunshot residue on Barajas and Banda and another of "biological material" found at the crime scene.

Alvin area residents are maintaining a roadside memorial marking the scene of the deaths.

children killed, father kills killer, death markers

Photo courtesy of KHOU Houston Channel 11

Alvin area residents are maintaining a roadside memorial marking the scene of the deaths.

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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.”