A Texas Man Was Free on Bond for Murder. Then, He Killed a Houston Rapper and His 11-Year-Old Stepson in Their Driveway.
Texas man kills 11-year-old boy and his stepfather while he was out on bond for another murder.
Sept. 24 2023, Published 1:03 p.m. ET
A Texas man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after killing a Houston rapper and his 11-year-old stepson in 2020 while he was out on bond for another murder, authorities announced.
On Oct. 26, 2020, Dominic Sumicek and his stepfather, 41-year-old Menuell Solomon, were killed in their driveway, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Officials said Solomon, who was known to be a Houston rapper on YouTube called “Montana22,” died while trying to shield Dominic from gunfire.
On Sept. 20, Desmond Hawkins, 23, was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Suminek and Solomon, officials said.
At the time of the murders, Hawkins was free on bond for a capital murder that occurred four years earlier, in 2016.
In that case, Hawkins was arrested after he allegedly fatally shot a man he knew during a robbery. Authorities released Hawkins on bond at the time and he had to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
When the 2020 murders took place, Hawkins was still wearing the ankle monitor, authorities said.
According to authorities, Solomon told police a week before the shooting that a man he didn’t know had tried to shoot and kill him while he was parking his car in his driveway.
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On the day of the murders, the GPS monitor for Hawkins showed he was waiting for at least three hours and walking around Solomon’s driveway before he cut a hole into a chain-link fence to gain better access, officials said.
Solomon returned home and was backing into his driveway with his stepson in the passenger seat when Hawkins came out from the hole in the fence, shot Suminek twice and then shot Solomon four times, killing them both.
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Officials were able to use the GPS monitoring records along with surveillance video from nearby cameras, which showed Hawkins running toward the murder scene.
A second suspect, Dewayne Batiste, was arrested in 2021 and charged in connection to the deadly shooting, though it’s unclear what his role was.
After a two-week jury trial, Hawkins was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In a statement, District Attorney Kim Ogg said, “A little boy with his whole life ahead of him was murdered because of a cold-blooded ambush in broad daylight. This was a capital murder, and the appropriate sentence is life in prison without parole.”
Assistant District Attorney Nancy Ta added: “Hawkins made a decision to end Dominic’s life before the boy could even turn 12, and now 12 citizens of Harris County have decided how Hawkins will spend the rest of his.”
It remains unclear why Hawkins targeted the stepfather.
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