On March 9, 2024, at about 3:55 a.m., deputies found 17-year-old Darnell Jamal Cotton, known as DC, dead in the driver’s seat of a black sedan in the 15100 block of Golden Eagle Drive near Humble, Texas. He had apparent gunshot wounds and the sedan had crashed into a parked vehicle. Investigators say the car had been reported stolen from a nearby apartment complex.

The vehicle’s owner, 30-year-old Dushawn Caples, reported pursuing the stolen car in his wife’s gray SUV. Caples admitted to chasing the sedan and firing multiple shots into it after the driver refused to stop; authorities arrested and charged him with murder. Darnell was a Summer Creek High School student, born November 16, 2006, who hoped to work as an engineer in the oilfield industry. He is survived by his parents, Shantal S. Harris and Darrell J. Cotton, and extended family.

Anyone with information about the shooting or the events that led to it is urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.