Man wanted for murder after deadly argument in apartment

HOUSTON – Damian Staggers is charged with murder. Instead of being in prison, he’s on the run.

“I can’t believe this happened and this guy is walking around,” said Michelle Scott-Grays, Carl Scott’s mother.

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Earlier this month, Michelle buried her second child, Carl, 31.

“I felt like someone had ripped my heart out, and I still feel that right now,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m breathing.”

“What he wanted most was to be with his family,” said Lashawn Scott-Grays, Carl’s stepmother.

Carl has had some run-ins with the law, but has spent the last five years turning his life around.

“One thing I told him before he passed away was that I will never look back on the past, because the man you are today has made me a proud mother,” Michelle said.

On September 6, sheriff’s deputies said Staggers shot Carl in Apartment 909 located at 331 Parramatta Lane.

“It all started with a dispute over rent,” Lashawn said. “His girlfriend was having a dispute with her best friend of seven years over the rent owed.”

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Instead of paying the rent, Staggers allegedly sent threatening text messages to Carl’s girlfriend.

“He said he was going to kill her,” Michelle said. “He was going to have his family members beaten up.”

“Carl being Carl, when he takes you in as family, he’s going to protect you,” Lashawn said. “The information we obtained from neighbors,

“Damian Staggers was walking through the apartment complex talking about murder on his mind.”

Deputies say after killing Carl, Staggers took off and is now wanted for murder.

“Now we have to cry and wish to hear his voice again, which will never happen because of the rent,” Lashawn said.

Carl’s mother has this message for her son’s accused murderer.

“I hate you for destroying my family,” Michelle said. “I hate that you can’t be a man and talk about it.”

If you know the whereabouts of Damian Staggers, call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers.