Jessie Coleman, 30, was shot and killed at about 9 p.m. on Friday, April 19, 2013, in the 4100 block of Redbud Street near Danube Street in south Houston. He died at the scene. The Houston Police Department investigated.
According to the Houston Chronicle, gunfire erupted on Redbud that night, and Coleman was found shot in the chest. A green car was seen speeding away from the scene after the shots were fired.
Police did not publicly identify a suspect or a motive.
Few other details about the shooting were reported. Police did not say whether Coleman was standing outside, in a car or at a home, whether he knew the people in the green car, whether anyone else was hurt, or whether the shots came from the car itself.
Beyond his age, little about Coleman's life has been made public. No obituary or memorial page for him could be found for this story. A man of 30 would likely have had family, friends and co-workers who knew where he was going that Friday night and who he might have been meeting.
Redbud Street and Danube Street are in the South Park area of south Houston, a neighborhood of small single-family homes on a grid of quiet streets. A burst of gunfire at 9 p.m., followed by a car racing away, is likely to have drawn neighbors to their windows and doors.
Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, recorded roughly 200 to 300 homicides a year between 2007 and 2017, and its homicide detectives carried heavy caseloads. Hundreds of the city's killings from those years were never solved.
Old Houston cases can still be solved. In November 2025, Houston police charged two men with murder in a May 2016 driveway shooting on McDaniel Street in north Houston that had gone unsolved for more than nine years. The victim's sister said the family had believed the call would never come. Crime Stoppers of Houston accepts tips without asking for names, and a tip that leads to charges may be eligible for a cash reward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Jessie Coleman could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Houston through 2017, lists the case as open with no arrest. Anyone who saw a green car speeding away from Redbud Street that night, or who knows who was in it, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at 713-308-3600, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS (713-222-8477).
