HOUSTON (AP) — More than 90 people were found in a house in south-western Houston that investigators suspect was part of a human smuggling operation, police said Friday.
Authorities initially served a search warrant at the house after someone called police Thursday night to report a loved one was being held there, said Assistant Police Chief Daryn Edwards.
A special-tactics team entered the house, Edwards said, and found a large, huddled group of adults — five women and the rest men. The individuals told authorities they had not eaten in a while.
“It was a big surprise when we got in the house and saw what we saw,” Edwards said.
Officers asked health officials to test the captives for coronavirus infections after some complained of possible COVID-19 symptoms, including fever and loss of smell and taste sensations, Edwards said. Anybody who tested positive would likely be quarantined, he said.
Police continued to investigate who rented the home and how the individuals ended up inside.
Impaired driver gets 45-year term for wreck that killed 2
DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas man said by prosecutors to have a lengthy record of impaired driving was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison for a crash that killed a former Dallas City Council member and her daughter.
Jonathan Alger Moore, 37, was sentenced in state court after pleading guilty to two murder counts.
A statement from prosecutors says Moore was under the influence of the sedative Ambien when his vehicle veered into oncoming traffic on Loop 12 in July 2019 and crashed head-on into another vehicle, killing ex-council member Carolyn Davis, 57, and daughter Melissa Lashan Davis-Nunn, 27.
Police said Moore was heard afterward telling a witness that he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Moore has a long history of driving while intoxicated and had just been released from probation for his fourth conviction for driving while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs when the crash happened, according to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office statement.
He had his bond increased in December 2019 after two breath-test violations and failing to charge his electronic leg monitor.
Prosecutor Lauren Black said Moore's initial arrests were for drunken driving but had turned to other intoxicants to escape detection. His escalating behavior was the reason for the lengthy sentence, of which he must serve at least 20 years.
