Houston man charged in death of woman found in stormwater catch basin

A body found in a stormwater catch basin off Country Creek Drive was turned into a murder case in less than three weeks, with Houston police naming a suspect, Daniel Arnulfo Ceron, 22, and tying the death of Persia Amarra Conway, 33, to a fast-moving investigation. What began as a grim recovery near Brays Bayou became a charged homicide after detectives traced the case from the drainage structure to court.

Patrol officers were sent to 8950 Country Creek Drive about 8:15 a.m. on May 25 after a report of a body in a stormwater catch basin adjacent to a bayou. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced Conway dead at the scene. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences later classified the death as a homicide, moving the case from an unexplained discovery to a criminal investigation with a clear direction.

Houston police first said on May 26 that the investigation was pending autopsy results. At that point, detectives W. Huff and J. Nguyen were handling the case, and officials had not yet publicly identified the woman found in the basin. The public identification came later, when Conway was named as a 33-year-old transgender woman whose death was drawing attention across Houston.

The pace changed sharply on June 10, when Ceron was arrested by the HPD Westside Division Gang Unit with help from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office. Police said he was charged with murder in the 262nd Criminal District Court. Several reports said Ceron confessed after his arrest, and court records reportedly alleged that he killed Conway with his hands. Reports also said his bond was denied in Harris County court, keeping him in custody as the case moved forward.

That speed is unusual for a homicide still so early in the process, and it appears to have been driven by more than the recovery site itself. Police have not released the full relationship between Conway and Ceron or the circumstances that led to her death, but the combination of a named suspect, a reported confession, and a forensic ruling of homicide gave investigators a quicker path than many open cases ever get.

Conway’s death also became a community vigil point. On June 2, family members, friends, advocates, and members of Houston’s LGBTQ+ community gathered at the Montrose Center to honor her life and press for answers. Her mother, Michelle Simmons, has called for transparency, communication, and accountability from HPD while asking that people remember her daughter for who she was, not only how she died.

The case remains open, with investigators still working the details that have not yet been released. For now, the timeline is stark: a body found in a drainage basin on May 25, a homicide classification, a vigil in Montrose, and a murder charge against Ceron less than 16 days later. Anyone with information can contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.