Your wedding day is supposed to be a hectic yet fun day, surrounded by friends and family wishing you and your new spouse well as you journey into marriage. The day is not supposed to end in death. But for one Houston couple that was married earlier this month, that is precisely what happened.
Following their wedding ceremony on a Sunday afternoon, the bride, groom and their guests were enjoying a reception in northeast Houston when a fight broke out. It is unclear precisely how many guests were involved in the altercation, but at eyewitnesses say that at least two men started fighting the 23-year-old groom and his brother while at the reception.
After one of the men stabbed the groom’s brother, they both fled from the reception. According to the Houston Police Department, the groom and his injured brother followed the guests about a block from the reception to a private home, where they thought the two men might be hiding.
A law enforcement official said that the groom and his brother tried to gain entry into the home by kicking and beating the on the door. The resident of the home, believing that someone was breaking into his home, fired a gun. The groom was hit by the shot and died on the scene from his fatal injuries.
The groom’s brother was not injured in the fatal shooting, but was taken to the LBJ General Hospital where he was treated for his stab wounds.
The case has been referred to a Harris County grand jury, who will have to determine whether to criminally charge the homeowner for killing the groom. It is unclear whether the homeowner is related to the two guests that fled from the wedding reception.
It is also unknown at this time whether the newly married wife will pursue a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the homeowner for the death of her spouse.
Source: Houston Chronicle, “Groom killed after fight during reception in NE Houston,” 8/1/11.