Parolee arrested, charged in murder of his mother

HUMBLE, Texas (FOX 26) - Only on FOX, photojournalist David Lanier captured video as Houston police took a man into custody who is charged in the murder of his mother.

Vertie Hamilton's sister and a neighbor discovered the 79-year old woman's body inside her Humble-area home where she has lived for more than thirty years.

Sharon Dianne Phillips Carter, Hamilton's sister, says the only thing more heartbreaking than the elderly woman's death is the possibility that her sister's son is the one who killed her.

Garry Jenkins, 56, seemed to disappear after Hamilton was murdered until he was seen at a bus stop where a FOX 26 News camera captured the moment he was arrested.

"It is very heartbreaking because I'm not sure what went on," adds Carter.

Jenkins is a veteran of the U.S. Army but he also has an extensive criminal record. He was just released from prison five months ago. He served 21 of a forty-year sentence for aggravated robbery. He was on parole and wearing an electronic ankle monitoring device when he moved back in with his mother in February.

"She was a wonderful woman," describes Carter. "She was giving. She was his anchor." Carter also says her sister loved her son and that Hamilton would send him money, magazines and books every two weeks while he was in prison.

"I just don't believe it," says Carter.

"I don't believe he would do such a thing," says Jose Dixon, who has lived next door to Hamilton's home for decades. "It really shocked me."

Another neighbor's camera showed Jenkins arriving to the home on Sunday morning and leaving around eleven minutes later. When no one could reach Hamilton, Dixon and Carter contacted 911 and entered her home.

"I opened the door," describes Dixon. "As I opened the door, she said, 'Vertie, it's Dianne. We're coming in.'" He walked into the family room and found Hamilton on the floor covered by a quilt.

"I said, 'Wait a minute here!,'" adds Dixon. "No, no, no! When I looked up, she was laying on her side and I saw the handle.

Dixon is referring to the handle of a knife inside Hamilton's back.

An arrest warrant issued for Jenkins on Friday for a parole violation because he had missed his curfew. Dixon testified at a hearing on behalf of Jenkins in March when the parolee failed to come home. Dixon says Jenkins' mother was about to put him out of her home because he was beginning to violate his parole on a regular basis.

Hamilton's husband died of a heart attack during Hurricane Harvey and Jenkins missed his father's funeral because of his prison sentence.