Houston police find boy dead in stolen SUV after dad killed

The toddler, Micah, was found in the stolen vehicle hours after his father was killed. Photo / KHOU-11

A 2-year-old boy was found dead inside his family's SUV hours after a man fatally shot his dad at a Houston gas station, and then stole the vehicle, police said.

Officials have not yet determined a cause of death for the toddler, but they believe it might have been heat exhaustion, Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said.

Authorities believe the suspect abandoned the SUV with the child locked inside and with the engine turned off as the temperature reached 35C in Houston.

Michael Essien. Photo / KHOU-11

A 38-year-old man was arrested and faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence.

Houston TV station KHOU-11 named the victims as 38-year-old Michael Essien and 2-year-old Micah.

The shooting happened during an argument, and authorities did not find the boy's body until that evening, Satterwhite said.

Satterwhite said officers initially did not know about the toddler when they started investigating the shooting.

TV still shows the suspect on CCTV who allegedly stole the family's SUV with the toddler in the back seat after shooting the child's father. Photo / KHOU-11

It was not until his mother called the police and reported that her son and husband were missing that they knew to look for the boy, Satterwhite said.

Police then found the missing SUV with the child inside about a mile from the shooting. They began performing CPR on the toddler, but he was dead, Satterwhite said.

“I want my brother back.. I need my nephew.” Emotional interview w/family who identifies father killed and toddler later found dead in his stolen SUV as 38 year-old Michael and Micah Essien (2). Widow and two other kids getting tons of support. Much more later on @KHOU #khou11 https://t.co/nL3opvT5LQ pic.twitter.com/cbiLiuJQKS

— Jason Miles (@JMilesKHOU) September 21, 2022

Satterwhite said authorities wish they had known about the toddler when they first started investigating.

"Nobody wishes more than me that we would have had more then, that we could have found this child in time," he said.

Authorities had not released the suspect's name, pending the filing of formal charges in court.