A 32-year-old mother was shot and killed in front of her young children Wednesday morning, October 2, at an apartment complex in northwest Houston, Texas, authorities said.
According to the Houston Police Department, the incident occurred around 8 a.m. at the Willow Green Apartments, located near FM 1960 and Highway 249 in the Willowbrook area.
The victim, identified as Jackelyn Wilson, was inside her second-floor apartment when a man she knew entered the residence. Surveillance footage captured the man walking into the apartment before an exchange of words was heard, followed by multiple gunshots, police said.
Neighbors reported hearing a man say, “Oh really?” followed by Wilson saying, “Go ahead” three times before shots were fired. The suspect exited the apartment and calmly walked away less than a minute after arriving.
Two of Wilson’s children, ages four and six, were in the apartment during the shooting. One of her sons ran to a nearby bus stop and flagged down two women, telling them, “He shot my mom.”
Upon hearing this, the women rushed to the apartment to assist. “As soon as he said that, we took off running. ‘Show us the apartment that you’re staying in,’ he brought us to the apartment, and we went in there, and she was just gasping for air,” the witness said. They applied towels to Wilson’s wounds and called 911, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Howard Devon Ruffin, turned himself in to police the following day and has been charged with murder, authorities said.
According to court records, Ruffin was Wilson’s boyfriend, and the couple had a tumultuous five-year relationship marked by domestic violence. Neighbors reported that Ruffin had been camping out in the apartment complex parking lot in recent days, apparently trying to keep tabs on Wilson.
Just two days before the shooting, Wilson had broken up with Ruffin and removed his belongings from her apartment. “She put him out Monday. She packed all his things, set them outside, and told him he couldn’t stay there anymore,” said Wilson’s mother, Denise Bibbs.
Court documents revealed that Ruffin had a history of domestic violence against Wilson. In July, he was charged with assault for allegedly hitting and strangling her. A protective order was requested but never granted. Despite the charges, Ruffin was released on a low bond in a different county.
Neighbors said they heard Ruffin threaten Wilson’s life just a week before the incident. “I heard him say, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” a neighbor recounted.
Wilson’s four children, ranging in age from four to 10, are now being cared for by Bibbs, who expressed her grief and disbelief over the loss of her daughter. “I never thought he would do something like this,” Bibbs said. “He took my baby from me.”
Prosecutors are seeking to deny bail for Ruffin due to his criminal history and the severity of the charges.
Residents of the apartment complex expressed concern for the children who witnessed the tragedy.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities urge anyone with additional information to come forward.
