HOUSTON (CN) - The line between life and art has blurred for a Houston man who raps under the moniker Killah Dre. He’s in jail facing charges upgraded to capital murder Friday after a judge found probable cause he ran over a policewoman and killed her.
Police arrested Tavores Dewayne Henderson, 21, at a Houston-area home on Thursday following a two-day hunt after receiving an anonymous tip.
Henderson reportedly surrendered after talking to his mother and gave a statement in which he said he knew Nassau Bay Police Sergeant Kaila Sullivan was trying to detain him Tuesday when he struck her with his car while fleeing.
A Nassau Bay policeman pulled over Henderson on Tuesday night for speeding in an apartment complex and Sullivan arrived to provide backup, according to court records.
They ran his name and tried to arrest him when they learned he had a warrant on charges he had scratched his girlfriend with his fingernail.
Henderson broke loose as the officers tried to handcuff him, jumped in his Jeep, sped off, hit Sullivan and dragged her, authorities said. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
He sat in an orange jump suit in the jury box of a courtroom in downtown Houston Friday morning, leaning forward and resting his arms on his legs, his eyes wide and forehead furrowed. He stared at prosecutors standing in front of the bench quietly chatting with Harris County Judge Amy Martin and at people coming in the door of the bustling courtroom.
He was not called before Martin for the initial appearance. Harris County prosecutor Sean Teare told reporters after the hearing that Martin had signed an order finding probable cause for capital murder and ordered Henderson be held without bond.
Teare, the Harris County District Attorney’s office vehicular crimes chief, said over the last two days he was with Harris County sheriff’s officers, Texas Rangers, and U.S. marshals trying to find Henderson and reviewing his social media posts and music videos.
“In every one of his videos, in every one of his social media posts, you see some other evidence of potential violence. You see firearms, you see body armor, you see singing about robbing and drug dealing and things like that,” Teare said.
His videos are full of his rhymes about violence, money and drugs.
Wearing a gaudy gold chain and sparkling diamond rings in a video for a remix of his song “Callin’ My Spirits,” he raps, “On the Adderall up focused geeking,” and “Sipped too much lean it’s eating my kidneys.”
“Lean” is a concoction of promethazine hydrochloride and codeine phosphate cough syrup, soda and Jolly Rancher candy associated with a style of down tempo hip-hop originated by Houston rappers.
On another video for his song “EleVate,” Henderson raps, “I came a long way. Stick on me and it shoot from far away. Pop four percs a day. Stay out my way before you end up a DOA.”
Henderson’s rap sheet in Harris County includes two charges of assault of a family member. He is also facing a felony theft charge in Galveston County for allegedly stealing tools from Home Depot.
His mother Tiffany Henderson, 37, and her boyfriend, Geoffrey Wheeler, 33, were also arrested Thursday. They are both facing felony charges, with prosecutors alleging they helped Henderson hide out in a hotel after he ran over Sullivan.
Teare, the prosecutor, said Friday that more charges will likely be filed against others who helped Henderson elude police.
“There’s no way that that individual can leave the hotel we know he was located at after this crash and wait two days before we catch him without a lot of help,” Teare said. “And we are looking that right now. Anyone that helped him in any way shape or form to avoid arrest, that person will be caught.”
Sullivan, 43, was a mother and the president of the Sisters Eternal Woman's Motorcycle Club of Texas.
She was the second law enforcement officer killed in the Houston area in the last week.
Christopher Brewster, 32, was shot dead while responding to a domestic violence call on Dec. 7. Arturo Solis, 25, is in custody without bond facing capital murder charges for the shooting.
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