Houston father of five killed while tracking stolen truck with GPS
A GPS trail led Louis Erebia to a north Houston intersection, where the father of five was shot while trying to recover his son’s stolen Chevrolet Silverado.
A father of five who followed a GPS signal to find his son’s stolen Chevrolet Silverado was shot and killed at a north Houston intersection, turning a recovery effort into a homicide and a warning about the risks of confronting suspects before police arrive.
Louis Erebia, 56, had gone with a family friend to track the truck after it was reportedly taken at gunpoint about 15 miles away. The search ended in gunfire, and investigators now say the shooting is tied to a murder case involving London Hogan, Sr., 37. Court records show Hogan was already on probation for a previous violent crime and had violated that probation before Erebia was killed.
The family’s grief has quickly become a wider question about criminal justice and public safety. Relatives want to know why the man they believe was responsible was not behind bars when Erebia died. Hogan had been sentenced to five years’ probation in March 2024 after pleading guilty to choking his girlfriend. After a January 2025 arrest in Louisiana on drug-possession-related allegations, he received 30 days in jail instead of having his probation revoked.
A Harris County judge, Te'iva Bell of the 339th District Court, denied bond for Hogan during a Monday morning hearing. Investigators are also still looking for a possible getaway driver in a black pickup truck.
The killing has struck a deep chord in Harris County because Erebia was known far beyond his family as a youth baseball coach, a Little League volunteer and a member of The River Church. His wife, Amanda Erebia, is a trustee for Galena Park Independent School District, and the family said he spent years supporting North Shore Little League, The River Church and school activities across Galena Park ISD. Family and community advocates called the case a “cataclysmic failure” of the justice system.
The facts of this case carry a stark public-safety lesson. When a stolen vehicle pings to a live location, law enforcement urges residents not to drive there and confront anyone involved. The safer course is to let police handle the recovery, because a GPS trail can turn a theft into a fatal encounter in seconds, as it did for Erebia and his family.
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