10-year-old charged with murder in northwest Houston stabbing death of teen

A 10-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of 13-year-old Riley DeArmas at 8047 Grow Lane in northwest Houston, a case that has pushed one of Harris County’s most unusual juvenile prosecutions into the center of a grieving family’s fight for answers.

Houston police said officers responded about 7:50 p.m. Feb. 4 to the Grow Lane address after a fight broke out between two groups. Houston Fire Department paramedics took Riley to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Investigators said the stabbing happened during an altercation that included the juvenile victim. The 10-year-old boy was detained at the scene and later released while investigators continued their work.

Police said the boy was charged March 31 and arrested April 22 in Charlotte, North Carolina, by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team. His name and photo are not being released, and Houston police said he was referred to Harris County Juvenile Probation Authorities on a murder charge.

The case gained further attention because of the boy’s self-defense claim. Investigators said he told police Riley was part of a larger group, described as 20 to 30 people who came to the complex and began assaulting others. Riley’s family disputed that account. Ashley DeArmas said the arrest was “very bittersweet,” and said her daughter should be remembered as “goofy, bubbly, and a fashionista.” She also said, “Instead of me celebrating her 14th birthday, I’m celebrating and trying to bury my daughter right now.”

The family marked Riley’s death with a balloon release Feb. 7, when nearly 100 people gathered to remember her, many holding purple balloons in her favorite color. March 20 would have been Riley’s 14th birthday.

The legal path ahead is rare but clear in Texas. State law sets age 10 as the minimum age of criminal responsibility, and children that age and older can be handled in juvenile court, where prosecutors and juvenile authorities decide how serious cases move forward. Harris County court leaders have said juvenile murder and capital murder filings have risen 261% since 2019, and a 2025 court document showed 167 youths in detention in the county, including 46 on murder or capital murder charges.