HOUSTON, TX – A man who police say was responsible for numerous shootings among Houston’s southwest side on May 6th was captured hours after the murders he allegedly committed.

According to authorities, the suspect is responsible for killing three people and injuring one other within a 45-minute period.

Officials have charged 35-year-old Joshua Kelsey with capital murder after a murderous spree that police say he committed during the evening hours of May 6th.

The reports of gunfire started coming in between approximately 8:15 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. that night. In every instance, the same description was given for the suspect responsible.

Police arrested Kelsey roughly seven hours after the last reported incident, where they found the suspect still driving a stolen vehicle he’d taken from one of the victims.

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The first incident transpired at around 8:15 p.m. within the 14200 block of Bridgeport Road.

From what police say, Kelsey had gotten into some kind of an altercation with two men and shot both of them and proceeded to steal the victims’ 2012 silver Kia Forte.

One of the victims was pronounced dead upon arriving at a local hospital, while the other is expected to survive. Police have not yet revealed their identities.

Just 15 minutes after the first shooting, police say that the suspect committed another shooting within the 5200 block of Kelling Street.

The suspect reportedly entered the home of a 60-year-old man and shot him. The victim, who was later identified as Michael Miller, was pronounced dead at the scene when authorities arrived.

From there, the suspect then allegedly made his way over to the 13500 block of Hooper Road. At approximately 9:00 p.m., police stated that Kelsey entered a home on Hooper Road and shot yet another man who was identified as Juan Garcia. The victim was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital.

After authorities spotted the stolen Kia, a brief pursuit ensued, but they eventually arrested Kelsey. According to Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner, the fatal shooting spree may have been drug-related.

Chief Finner also noted that the victims and the suspect were familiar with each other:

“There’s a shortage of drugs on these streets. Drug rips, drug disputes are really pushing the homicides in our city.”

Sammy Parks, a special agent for the DEA, noted that with the current pandemic, there has been repercussions among the drug trade affecting Houston.

He stated that intelligence operations have uncovered the likes of significant increases in illegal drug prices in response to the pandemic:

“Drug cartels who are responsible for supplying the bulk of the product in the Houston area, they’re having problems transporting across the border because of the pandemic.”

It’s not just aspects related to transportation across the border either, as explained by Special Agent Parks. He stated that the manufacturing operations originating in Mexico are experiencing difficulty obtaining key chemical ingredients for drugs like methamphetamine from China.

From what Special Agent Parks described, nearly every aspect of the drug trade has been disrupted from the supply chain to manufacturing:

“Social distancing orders have changed drug trafficking in the Houston area. We won’t have a true sense of the impact for some time.”

As for Kelsey, he’s had quite the checkered past with regard to drug related charges going all the way back to 2004.

Most of his charges were marijuana-related, but he did have a 2018 arrest for cocaine possession. However, that drug possession charge was dropped after he plead guilty to a separate theft charge at the time.

Apparently that 2018 theft charge that Kelsey plead guilty to was related to stealing the rims off of someone’s vehicle. But with the current charges Kelsey is facing, there’s no small-time headed his way if there’s a conviction. If found guilty of capital murder, the suspect could be facing the death penalty.

It’s worth pointing out that we warned this would happen:

Experts warn of potential wave of violence coming when criminals don’t get their drugs because of “social restrictions”

By Leonard Sipes, April 10, 2020

There are reports that illicit drug markets are greatly compromised by COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions. That means that addicted offenders and their dealers are either working off current supplies, or they are running low, or they are out of drugs altogether.

Data from the US Department of Justice state that the majority of criminal offenders are frequent or dependant drug users. There is state data indicating that a minimum of 80% of inmates have histories of significant use or drug dependence.

I interviewed former addicts for a television show on drug use who told me that tainted drugs laced with poison were once discarded by dealers fleeing law enforcement. Washington D.C. police alerted the community to the danger. That night, addicts in the area searched for the drugs. That’s the definition of addiction; risking your life for a free high.

Yes, drug use is not a straight forward proposition and there are endless degrees of dependency. I spoke to offenders who claimed to take months-long vacations from drug use for a variety of reasons.

But there are tens of thousands of addicted offenders who struggle to deal with day to day life without drugs. Add considerable mental health issues, and the pandemic may be creating a potential growing storm of interpersonal or stranger-to-stranger violence.

Crime During The COVID-19 Pandemic:

Crime during the Coronavirus era is moderate or declining with several exceptions in cities with existing violent crime problems. Baltimore, New York (increased homicides), Chicago, Washington, D.C., St Louis, Jacksonville, and other cities are reporting increases in violence while most cities show moderate or decreased crime.

DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said:

“I think that for our most violent offenders, this pandemic has not changed their behavior at all.”

When the pandemic is over, I’m guessing the criminals will be going back to work as soon as the rest of us do. The violence will start up again.” Coronavirus And Crime.

Drug Traffickers Having Problems With Distribution, as written in VICE: 

“Jesús is a drug trafficker allied with the Sinaloa cartel. Last week, he and other traffickers received a WhatsApp message from the cartel’s top boss, Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, who declared that wholesale prices were going to increase for methamphetamine.

“Mayo sent this announcement saying, ‘Everyone is going to sell a pound of crystal for 15,000 pesos ($600) from now on because of the shortage.’ Before that, it was 2,500 pesos ($100),” said Jesús, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The message also said, ‘If you don’t obey, pay attention to the consequences.’” The stated reason for the sixfold price hike is the novel coronavirus pandemic. The cartel supply chain is complex and international.

The raw chemical ingredients used for manufacturing methamphetamine and fentanyl are mainly sourced from China, the epicentre of the outbreak. In a recent interview with VICE News, Jesús said his ‘cooks’ were already running low on some of the essential materials used in the drug manufacturing process.”

According to Express-UK:

“The Sicilian mafia and the Calabria-based Ndrangheta smuggle drugs on cargo vessels but with lockdowns across Europe and police monitoring people’s movements, it has become harder to get them picked up at the other end, said the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

Meanwhile, New York’s five Mafia crime families are said to be suffering the biggest “hit” in their bloody histories.”

A disruption in the world’s illegal drug market will have a profound effect on supply and price and could lead to a rise in crime. The price of drugs is on the rise as the Government’s coronavirus lockdown measures have lead to fewer dealers selling drugs on the street, Standard-UK.

Mexico, according to The Guardian- UK:

“A major shootout between rival drug gangs has killed 19 people in the northern Mexico border state of Chihuahua, officials say. The state prosecutors’ office said on Saturday that 18 corpses, two grenades, vehicles and guns were found at the scene of the clash in the hamlet of Chuchuichupa the township of Madera.”

Mexico-InternationalBusinessTimes said:

“A quarantine, with strict restraining measures, would result in fewer people in the streets, hence fewer robberies, probably fewer murders and burglaries; but when the social isolation ends, violence will undoubtedly return.”

Drug treatment has been compromised, reports Stateline:

“Helping patients stay in recovery from opioid addiction never was easy, and the coronavirus crisis is making it harder.

Addiction treatment clinics are expanding hours, hiring staff to take people’s temperatures, providing home delivery and curbside pickup for medication, and revamping procedures to limit human contact.”

Without more money, the cost of retooling services could put some providers out of business. At West Midtown Medical Group, a Manhattan methadone clinic, the business of providing 900 patients a daily cup of lifesaving medicine has been upended. Allegra Schorr, a clinic owner, says:

“We’re trying to keep our patients in treatment and protect them from overdose. It’s a balancing act, and it’s extremely challenging.”

Drug And Alcohol Use: 

The vast majority of offenders use drugs and alcohol, and most have mental health issues based on self-reports and a formal diagnosis, see Mental Health.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse said:

“According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 86.4 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 70.1 percent reported that they drank in the past year; 56.0 percent reported that they drank in the past month.

26.9 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month in 2015.”

It’s been our experience that the majority of offenders abuse alcohol. Historically (and criminologically), alcohol is strongly connected to violent crime.

Anywhere from 56 percent (Charlotte) to 82 percent (Chicago) of arrestees across sites tested positive for the presence of some substance at the time of arrest. In 9 out of the 10 sites in 2009, 60 percent or more of arrestees tested positive, see ADAM and Drug Use at Arrest.

More than half (58%) of state prisoners and two-thirds (63%) of sentenced jail inmates met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse, according to data collected through the National Inmate Surveys (NIS). In comparison, approximately 5% of the total general population age 18 or older met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse.

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Note that surveys of inmates are generally undercounts. State data puts the figure closer to eighty percent.

Among prisoners who met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse, there was no difference in the percentage incarcerated for violent offenses (54%), DWI/DUI offenses (55%), or other public order offenses (55%). Among jail inmates, 45% of those incarcerated for DWI/DUI and 51% for public order offenses met the criteria.

An estimated 81% of persons in prisons and 84% of those in jail reported ever using any drug in their lifetime. These percentages were virtually unchanged from the 83% of prisoners (based on 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities) and 85% of sentenced jail inmates (based on 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails) reported ever using drugs.

Fewer than a third of inmates who met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse received drug treatment or participated in a program.

Conclusions:

Crime during the Coronavirus pandemic is moderate or has decreased in most American cities with growing exceptions for violence, burglaries, car theft, and larcenies.

The vast majority of offenders have histories of drug use or dependence, and most have histories of mental health problems.  Add the lack of availability or considerable price increases or compromised drug treatment, together, it collectively could have an impact on violent crime.

Numerous media sources are already documenting increases in domestic violence and child abuse.

If addicted or drug dependent or mentally ill criminal offenders go without their substances, it could create very difficult days ahead for families, children, law enforcement and citizens in general.

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