Strangers found in slain pregnant woman’s Heights home, family says

A family court hearing in Harris County took a startling turn when Christa Gilley’s relatives said strangers had moved into the couple’s Heights home on Allston Street. The dispute now reaches beyond the death of the pregnant woman into a basic question many families fear after a violent loss: who has the right to stay in, manage or claim a home left behind?

During Thursday’s custody hearing, Christa Gilley’s father testified that he recently visited the property and saw signs that someone else had taken over. He said the blinds were closed, surveillance cameras had been installed and no-trespassing warnings were posted outside the house. Harris County sheriff and Houston police records later showed officers responded to a trespassing call Wednesday evening after a neighbor reported someone inside the residence.

When officers arrived, the person inside reportedly refused to come out. Through a doorbell speaker, the occupant said he possessed the property and could prove it in court, according to the account given to investigators.

Police said the house remains in probate because it is tied to a murder case. County appraisal records still list Christa and Lee Gilley as the legal owners, underscoring how unsettled the home’s status remains while the criminal case and the estate issues move on different tracks.

Lee Gilley is accused of cutting off his ankle monitor and fleeing to Italy to avoid trial in Christa Gilley’s death. The family’s concern has now widened from the homicide itself to the practical aftermath: whether the home where Christa Gilley died can be occupied, who can authorize access, and what happens when relatives are left to untangle property rights while a suspect remains overseas.

ABC13 also reported that an entity called Save a Life Homes placed new notices and cameras at the property and filed documents claiming adverse possession and a warranty deed after Gilley allegedly fled. Those filings, if they are valid or even if they are simply being asserted, place the Heights home at the center of a second fight, one that blends probate, civil property claims and a murder case that has already shaken the family.

For Christa Gilley’s relatives, the shock is not only that the home is tied to a homicide. It is that the house itself, in one of Houston’s most closely watched neighborhoods, appears to have become a battleground over possession, title and control.