A man has been arrested and accused of beating a homeless man to death near downtown Houston, officials said.
Richard Denton Needham, 39, has been charged with murder in connection with the death of Lawrence Jirucha, 66, according to the Houston Police Department. Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman for the department, said investigators had not yet determined a motive behind the fatal attack.
Investigators connected Needham to the death through a series of recovered surveillance videos from June 3. The videos showed a man with distinct tattoos wielding a pipe, with which he beat Jirucha to death, according to court filings. Witnesses told police Needham had frequented homeless outreach events, but had been banned from functions at a local church because he previously had displayed"combative behavior."
Jirucha had been sleeping at the time of the attack, police said. Officers received a call around 6:30 a.m. from a passing motorist who said he'd found the seriously wounded man in the 400 block of Franklin Street. Emergency responders were dispatched to the location and later pronounced the man dead at the scene. Forensic examiners conducted an autopsy and determined Jirucha died as a result of blunt force trauma.
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