Suspect charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a deputy in Houston
HOUSTON — A suspect has been charged with murder in the deadly shooting of a deputy in texas who stopped at an intersection in Houston while driving to work, authorities said Thursday.
The announcement of the murder charges came on the same day that deputy sheriff Maher Husseini was remembered at his funeral as a Palestinian American who cared deeply for his family, his Muslim faith and his community.
“He was a community servant who strove to make the world a better and safer place. Safety, security and community well-being were evident in his community service,” said Abdurahman Hejazi, the religious scholar at the Masjid Al-Salam mosque in suburban Houston, during Husseini’s funeral service.
Athir Murady was charged with one count of murder in the death of Husseini on Tuesday, Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Joe Stinebaker said.
Authorities said Murady got out of his vehicle, walked up to Husseini’s SUV and fired multiple shots. The officer was pronounced dead at a Houston hospital.
Police are still investigating the motive for the shooting.
Authorities said Husseini was not in uniform when he was shot and was driving his own vehicle. Husseini had been a Harris County police officer since 2021.
Murady, 40, was being held Thursday in the neighboring Galveston County jail after leading authorities on a chase that ended in the waters of the Texas Gulf Coast, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from west Houston, where the shooting occurred.
According to authorities, Sergeant Nick Yeley, a Galveston city police deputy, spotted Murady’s vehicle several hours after the shooting in Galveston.
“I think it was just fate that I was in the right place at the right time, and I used the skills that I learned in my law enforcement career,” Yeley said, according to a Galveston Police Department news release.
Murady then led authorities on a short chase before driving his car into Galveston Bay. He got out of his vehicle and attempted to swim away from officers, who pulled him aboard a police boat.
Murady is being held without bail in Galveston County on a charge of evading arrest. He was expected to be returned to Houston, but authorities could not immediately say when that would happen.
Court and prison records did not indicate that there was an attorney who could speak on Murady’s behalf.
Harris County prosecutors have filed a motion asking the judge to set Murady’s bail at $5 million.
“Mahir was an American by choice and was a proud Palestinian American,” Hejazi said at Husseini’s funeral, which was attended by law enforcement officials and several local officials. “He loved the freedoms that we enjoy here in America and wanted those freedoms to be available everywhere in the world.”
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