Morris Washington

Morris Washington was a kind and loving man, known for his daily check-in calls to his older sister, Eunice Aker, to make sure she and her husband had taken their medicine. A retired truck driver and mechanic, the 69-year-old Black man was a devout Christian who loved his Bible. His family remembers him as a good man with a kind heart. He often spent Sundays attending church with his sister and then passing the afternoons chatting, laughing, and watching football. He would frequently bring his sister cantaloupe and his brother-in-law big jugs of tea. His daughter, Nikki Stewart, described him as an outgoing, loving dad whose words of wisdom were priceless. The family was looking forward to celebrating his 70th birthday on September 20, 2022, and had been planning a surprise party with Kentucky Fried Chicken and football.

The last time Stewart spoke to her father was just a week before his death. He had called her out of the blue to say she and her husband were on his mind. During the call, he mentioned he was sitting outside drinking coffee with a neighbor. Washington had only moved to the multi-room rental property on the 8000 block of Dunlap Street in southwest Houston about two months prior and attended dialysis treatments three times a week. He never mentioned having any problems at the complex.

In the early hours of Sunday, August 28, 2022, a horrific and calculated attack shattered the quiet of the residential complex. At around 1:07 a.m., a 54-year-old tenant named Roy Cravin, who had recently been notified of his eviction, deliberately set fire to several residences. Dressed in all black, Cravin then lay in wait with a shotgun, ambushing his neighbors as they fled the flames. Morris Washington was one of the residents who ran out of his home and was shot. Another resident, Michael James, was returning from work when he was struck in the arm and back by a shotgun blast.

Multiple 911 calls reported both the fire and the shooting. When crews from the Houston Fire Department arrived, they were forced to take cover as the gunman opened fire in their direction. A Houston Police Department officer, a 7-year veteran, arrived shortly after and confronted Cravin in a parking lot across the street. The officer fatally shot Cravin, ending the rampage. Three residents were killed in the attack: Morris Washington, 64-year-old Donald Lee Hall, and Dan Schupbach. Two other people were wounded but survived. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences determined Washington's cause of death was a shotgun wound to his right arm and torso. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The investigation by the Houston Police Department confirmed that the shooter's motive was related to his pending eviction. The property owner stated there had been no prior confrontations with Cravin. In September 2022, the police department released body-worn camera footage of the incident. As the primary suspect was killed at the scene, the case is considered closed.

The loss was devastating for Washington's family. "I can't see how nobody can be so cruel," his sister Eunice Aker told reporters. "I just can't see it." His daughter Nikki Stewart visited the site of the tragedy the next day, finding a small measure of peace at her father's unit. She recalled his kindness and the joy he brought to her life. "He didn't have diamond and gold, but his words of wisdom were priceless to me, and he’s definitely going to be missed," she said. The surprise birthday they had planned made the grief even more acute. "That also was very heartbreaking, looking forward to surprising him for his birthday," Stewart said.