HOUSTON – Police have arrested and charged a Missouri City man in the shooting death of a good Samaritan.
Investigators said a Crime Stoppers tip led them to Anthony Ferrell, 40, on Sunday. He was arrested at a nightclub.
Ferrell is charged with capital murder in the death of Samuel Irick, 24, who was shot at a Chevron gas station in the 4600 block of Beechnut on Nov. 11.
Investigators said Irick was trying to stop Ferrell from stealing a woman’s purse when he was shot.
The entire crime was caught on tape.
“It’s not often that we get to actually see a capital murder that’s captured on video, that has audio as well, that starts at the beginning of the incident all the way to the point at which the victim takes his last breath,” HPD Sgt. Eli Cisneros said. “For me to watch that—I’ve been in law enforcement for 18 years—I find it sickening and I’m appalled by it.”
Police, along with family members of Irick and the woman he saved, issued a public plea for help finding the young man’s killer last week. In a matter of days, investigators were led to Ferrell.
Police said Ferrell was positively identified as their suspect by the surveillance video and a witness to the murder.
Ferrell has a lengthy criminal history, including prior charges of burglary and aggravated robbery, dating back to the 1980s.
He appeared in court for a probable cause hearing early Monday morning and was being held without bond in the Harris County Jail.
Meanwhile, Irick’s family members were preparing for a funeral.
Irick’s mother and uncle said Irick was a giving person, and they weren’t surprised that he put himself in harm’s way for a stranger.
“Everyone that met Sam, from the time he was little, he made an impression on them. He really did. From his coaches to his teachers … People loved him,” Irick’s mother, Randi Wood, said. “He was a giving, loving person. And it doesn’t surprise me that he tried to help this lady. I just can’t believe it ended like this.”
Jeb Wait, the husband of the woman Irick saved, said words couldn’t adequately express the gratitude and sadness he felt for Wood and her family.
He said, thanks to Irick, his three young children still have their mother.
“[She] wasn’t someone who was out doing something bad – it was a mom that he saved. I’m just sad that I can’t see him and tell him that … He gave his life for someone he didn’t know, had never seen, had never met. I don’t think you could ask for anything more from anybody,” Wait said.
Funeral services for Irick were scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home, located at 6900 Lawndale Ave. in Houston.
