41-yrs-old Nigerian woman Ogunleye shot dead in Houston had narcotics in her car….USAfrica: The second week of September closed as a very difficult one for the Nigerian family of Ogunleye. One of their own 41-year-old Joan Ogunleye was shot to death inside her car in the parking lot of the all-items Walmart neighborhood market on Beechnut Street (at south Kirkwood road) about 11 p.m. last Thursday, September 9, 2010. The store, according to shoppers, is notorious for criminal characters lurking around the parking lot, and it is poorly lit.
Around midnight, some Wal-Mart customers found Ogunleye slumped inside her white Toyota/Lexus in the driver’s seat. This led to the Houston Police (HPD) and the emergency hotlines to be alerted.
So far, USAfricaonline.com can report, that there are no known eye-witnesses who have stepped forward.
Secondly, key Police indicators and preliminary conclusions indicate that no robbery was involved. In fact, the HPD told KTRK it did not appear to be “a random crime.”
Houston Police detectives, according to KPRC tv in Houston, said that Narcotics/drugs were also found in Joan Ogunleye’s car.
Investigators said Ogunleye parked at the store and waited for someone to get in the vehicle. The person or persons who eventually got in shot her in the back of her head, police said.
Detectives said they don’t believe robbery was the motive for the killing. Ogunleye’s purse was still in the car. “We don’t believe she ever made it into the store,” Sgt. J.J. Wilson said.
USAfricaonline.com and CLASSmagazine (Houston) are informed that the criminal and forensics investigators visited Joan Ogunleye’s home on Friday morning (September 10, 2010), and collected more evidence and background materials. The Police/investigators also have interviewed her roommate. Some of those who knew Ogunleye say they are “shocked.”
Meanwhile, the Houston Police are reviewing the store’s surveillance video, which they describe as useful. “They have some really good video, and we think that we’ll be able to catch the suspect or suspects leaving the scene,” Wilson said.
There is a request to the public that if you were at the same Wal-Mart between 10 p.m. and midnight Thursday, call HPD Homicide at (713) 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
For the African community in Houston, this was an unusual death. Several decades ago, another Nigerian was murdered. Only a few years ago, in the Dallas area, a different but even more brutal killing by burning of Don Okafor, a young, flashy Nigerian businessman was done in his car sales yard.
On the Ogunleye issue, a police detective told me that “our investigations are still ongoing but the presence of narcotics and other items were are looking clarify a few things, at this time…”
By Chido Nwangwu, USAfricaonline.com with police info/KPRC/contacts/
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report update is coming up, soon, on USAfricaonline.com, facebook.com/usafricachido, twitter.com/chido247 and some of our blogs: Nigeria360 at yahoogroups. e-mail: News@USAfricaonline.com ofc: 713-270-5500. wireless: 832-45-CHIDO (24436).
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VIDEO of the CNN International broadcast of its profile of USAfrica and CLASSmagazine Publisher Dr. Chido Nwangwu. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2010/07/29/mpa.african.media.bk.a.cnn
USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com (characterized by The New York Times as the most influential African-owned, U.S-based multimedia networks) established May 1992, our first edition of USAfrica magazine was published August 1993; USAfrica The Newspaper on May 11, 1994; CLASSmagazine on May 2, 2003; www.PhotoWorks.TV in 2005.
