Sierra Rhodd death: Texan dad shot dead by relative days after daughter with cerebral palsy was killed in sleep
HOUSTON, TEXAS: Michael Rhodd, father of Sierra Rhodd who was recently killed in a shooting, has allegedly been shot to death by a family member. This comes just days after his 20-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy was fatally shot.
According to authorities, the incident happened sometime around 11 pm on Friday, September 18 at a home on Thornleaf Lane near Grant Road in the Willowbrook area. Sgt Jason Brown, with the Harris County Sheriff Office’s homicide division, revealed that the Rhodd family had attended a vigil for Sierra earlier that very evening and just returned to the home when the incident happened. Reportedly, an altercation had broken out between Michael and Sierra's grandfather.
Brown also shared that the grandfather claimed he had fired the shot in self-defense once the fight between the two men turned violent. Several family members, including Sierra's brother, mother and grandmother, were present at the scene when the shooting happened, Brown added. While authorities aren't sure if the two deaths are related, Sierra's death was a fateful tragedy as she wasn't even the target of the shooting. The young woman was killed on the night of September 13 while she was asleep. A group of assailants, who were actually looking for Sierra's 15-year-old brother, had surrounded the house and opened fire with at least a rifle, shotgun and pistol.
“My girl didn’t do nothing to deserve anything,” Michael had said at the time of Sierra's death. "She has cerebral palsy, laying in the bed and you shoot her in the face... Whoever came and shot my house up and murdered my daughter, I want them caught." Further investigation brought out that the assailants were looking for Sierra's brother due to an ongoing feud between several individuals. While 18-year-old Emma Presler was charged in connection with the shooting, a judge declared there was no probable cause and also asked prosecutors to present their case to a grand jury.
Before Presler appeared in court, Sierra's mother Crystal Rhodd had addressed her involvement in the shooting, saying "I just hope that she stays in jail for the rest of her life. I hope she gets the death penalty, honestly. I’d like to speak with her in court." Speaking about the pain of losing her only daughter, Crystal had also shared "She was the heart of our family, I don’t know what we are going to do without her. She was my best friend. We did everything together."
That was also not the first time the Rhodd family was targeted by people feuding with Sierra's younger brother. Crystal said she has called the Harris County Sheriff’s Office 17 times since March out of fear for their safety. “I just don’t know what to say, I hope these people get caught. They took my heart. I will never, ever be the same, I can’t even go in my house,” Crystal had said.
When KPRC 2’s Vincent Crivelli reached out to Presler's family, a man claiming to be her stepfather had expressed doubts surrounding her pulling a trigger. “There were other people involved and I don’t believe she was in any way, shape or form shooting people,” he said.