Kathy Pinna
Arrests in Elkins murder case
A 19-year-old Nebraska woman who worked at a Houston strip club is in the Harris County Jail, accused of conspiring to help rob and assault a man who was fatally stabbed outside a car wash on March 27. Sharda Brianna Gatson, who listed her address as Omaha, Neb., in law enforcement records, is charged with aggravated assaulted in the March 27 death of Melfred "Bubba" Elkins, 55. The stabbing took place near a car wash on Veterans-Memorial Highway, just north of Gears Road, according to court documents. Christopher DeLeon Petty, a 37-year-old Houston man, is charged with murder in the same case, records state. He was arrested April 3 and was released April 13 on $50,000 bond.
A homicide investigator said he thought it was probable that Gatson was also conspiring with an unidentified man seen in a surveillance video to rob or assault Elkins. According to Gatson's arrest affidavit, Elkins' roommate told a Harris County Sheriff's Office investigator that in the early hours of March 27, a person known to him as "D" called him to say Elkins was afraid someone was following him. The person known as "D" said he had talked to Elkins on his cell phone, which the roommate thought was untrue since Elkins had recently lost his cell phone, records state.
The roommate later identified "D" as Petty, from a booking photograph, records state.
In an April 3 interview, Petty told police he was a pimp and had a prostitute working for him named "Sharday." Petty told police he and Gatson had parted ways a few days prior to March 27, but then she changed her mind and called back to say she had $1,000 and wanted to work for him again. Petty said he was uneasy about the call, because not long before this, he had gone to a motel to get one of his "girls" back and was jumped by her unidentified male companions. Gatson told Petty she had nowhere to go and had her possessions with her in a trash bag. Police later found the trash bag at the car wash. The bag held paint can tops and grass clippings, possibly in an effort to look full, records state. Because of his suspicions about a set-up, Petty asked Elkins, an acquaintance, to go with him, according to Gatson's arrest warrant. Under their plan, Elkins would meet up with Gatson by the car wash and then rendezvous later with Petty down the street. Petty said he went to wait at the agreed-upon spot and Elkins left in the direction of the car wash. Petty said he saw an unknown man lingering at the car wash. According to court records, that person is seen on a surveillance video.
- The Houston Chronicle on May 15, 2012
A homicide investigator said he thought it was probable that Gatson was also conspiring with an unidentified man seen in a surveillance video to rob or assault Elkins. According to Gatson's arrest affidavit, Elkins' roommate told a Harris County Sheriff's Office investigator that in the early hours of March 27, a person known to him as "D" called him to say Elkins was afraid someone was following him. The person known as "D" said he had talked to Elkins on his cell phone, which the roommate thought was untrue since Elkins had recently lost his cell phone, records state.
The roommate later identified "D" as Petty, from a booking photograph, records state.
In an April 3 interview, Petty told police he was a pimp and had a prostitute working for him named "Sharday." Petty told police he and Gatson had parted ways a few days prior to March 27, but then she changed her mind and called back to say she had $1,000 and wanted to work for him again. Petty said he was uneasy about the call, because not long before this, he had gone to a motel to get one of his "girls" back and was jumped by her unidentified male companions. Gatson told Petty she had nowhere to go and had her possessions with her in a trash bag. Police later found the trash bag at the car wash. The bag held paint can tops and grass clippings, possibly in an effort to look full, records state. Because of his suspicions about a set-up, Petty asked Elkins, an acquaintance, to go with him, according to Gatson's arrest warrant. Under their plan, Elkins would meet up with Gatson by the car wash and then rendezvous later with Petty down the street. Petty said he went to wait at the agreed-upon spot and Elkins left in the direction of the car wash. Petty said he saw an unknown man lingering at the car wash. According to court records, that person is seen on a surveillance video.
- The Houston Chronicle on May 15, 2012
