Marcus Ray Precella was 19 when he was one of four people found shot to death inside a Clear Lake-area home in Houston, Texas, on July 18, 2003. The other victims were Rachael Ann Koloroutis, 18; Tiffany Rowell, 18; and Adelbert Nicholas Sanchez, 21. Each suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators concluded the killings were likely drug-related. No arrests were made immediately, but three years later police charged 20-year-old Christine Marie Paolilla with capital murder; she had been a former classmate of the victims and was identified as a suspect based on composite sketches released soon after the killings. Christopher Lee Snider, 21, was also charged with capital murder; he died by suicide in 2006 before trial.

The murders deeply affected families and neighbors in the usually quiet Clear Lake neighborhood, and relatives raised money to offer a reward for information.