Destini Butler, 21, a Black/African American woman, was standing among a late-night crowd outside Bug’s Bar on Dixie Drive in southeast Houston when a car rolled past and gunfire shattered the summer Sunday just before midnight on July 13, 2025. Police said shots were fired from a passing sedan toward people gathered outside the nightclub, striking 17 in all; two would not survive.
Butler died from her wounds, and Paul “Junebug” Stevenson, 48, a beloved local barber and the club’s owner, was also killed as chaos rippled down the block and sirens converged on 6502 Dixie Drive. Initial reports counted fewer wounded, but by the next day authorities confirmed 15 injured in addition to the two fatalities, with evidence markers scattered across the pavement where the crowd had run for cover.
Detectives described a dark sedan—first reported as gray or silver—moving along Dixie Drive as at least one shooter fired into the crowd, and witnesses told local news they believed there could have been more than one gunman. The shooting time was placed around 11:45–11:47 p.m., and the identities of the victims were later confirmed by authorities and local outlets, which identified Butler as the 21-year-old woman killed in the drive-by. The mass shooting drew an outpouring of grief for Stevenson while investigators canvassed for surveillance footage and pleaded for tips.
As of the days following the attack, Houston police had not announced any arrests or publicly identified any suspects, emphasizing that the vehicle fled the scene and that they were seeking information from the community. Crime Stoppers and HPD asked anyone with knowledge to come forward as the investigation remained open, with no charges announced in the case.
