Crosby woman accused of killing acquaintance in Harris County home

Harris County investigators turned a Monday afternoon call for help in Crosby into a murder case after deputies say Courtney Smith told them she had killed two people inside a home on Adlong Johnson Road near U.S. 90.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched at about 3:48 p.m. May 19 to the 17800 block of Adlong Johnson Road after a woman requested to meet with deputies at the residence. Once there, investigators say Smith admitted she had killed her granddaughter and her boyfriend. Inside the home, deputies found 21-year-old Maysie Murphy dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Authorities later said no male victim was found at the scene and there was no evidence that a boyfriend had been involved.

Investigators identified Smith as the suspect and said Murphy was not biologically related to her, despite Smith’s initial description of Murphy as her granddaughter. Deputies also said the two women were believed to be acquaintances who were both living at the home at the time of the shooting. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the homeowners were out of town during the incident.

The case carried a warning sign that deputies say they had already seen before the shooting. Harris County Sheriff’s Office officials said Smith had previously called and said she was “seeing demons” and similar things, but deputies did not have enough information at the time to justify an emergency detention order. Officials have not publicly identified a motive.

Courtney Smith was booked into the Harris County Jail on a murder charge. Jail records and court action later showed a judge ordered that Smith be denied bail. Investigators said the home was associated with a couple who had been out of town, and KHOU reported that Smith had been staying with the homeowners after meeting them online.

The shooting in Crosby, east of Houston, adds another violent case to the far-reaching workload of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which says it is the largest sheriff’s office in Texas and the third-largest in the nation. The agency says it has nearly 5,100 employees and serves more than 4.1 million residents across 1,788 square miles and 41 incorporated municipalities. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-221-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.