A 53-year-old military veteran has been charged with capital murder following a deadly confrontation at a west Houston apartment community, where authorities allege he opened fire on two leasing office employees after an escalating dispute concerning his rental agreement. The violent incident, which resulted in the deaths of both workers, culminated in a court appearance where prosecutors outlined admissions made by the suspect during his interview with homicide detectives.
During a court hearing held Wednesday in Harris County, prosecutor Simone Colson presented the state's initial findings against Derrick Jackson. Jackson, who had resided at the Park at Woodlake apartment complex for approximately three years, reportedly told investigators that the confrontation escalated rapidly when a disagreement regarding his lease caused him to lose his temper and abruptly turn to lethal violence inside the administrative office.
According to statements presented by the prosecution, Jackson explained to Houston Police Department investigators that his frustration mounted during the conversation on Thursday afternoon. He specifically cited feeling aggravated when one of the leasing agents began conversing in Spanglish, a blend of Spanish and English, during their discussion about the residential paperwork.
The situation reached a fatal tipping point when 67-year-old leasing agent Rosa Linda Ybarra addressed the resident directly during the exchange. According to the prosecutor's retelling of Jackson’s statement, Ybarra challenged his complaints by stating, "Well, you signed the lease - didn't you?" That remark allegedly provoked Jackson into opening fire on the staff members inside the office.
Prosecutors stated that Jackson shot and killed Ybarra at the scene. As the gunfire erupted within the office, a second leasing agent, 47-year-old Felix Antonio Jimenez-Macz, attempted to flee the sudden attack, running away from the armed tenant in an effort to escape the building.
Jackson allegedly pursued the fleeing worker, shooting Jimenez-Macz twice as the employee attempted to get away. Prosecutor Colson informed the court that Jackson further admitted to investigators that when he realized Jimenez-Macz had not died immediately from the gunshot wounds, he produced a blade and stabbed the wounded employee.
Surveillance camera footage recovered from the apartment complex, located at 9545 Ella Lee Lane in west Houston, established the timeline of the attack. Video recordings showed a man entering the leasing office around 5:30 p.m. on the day of the killings and exiting the premises approximately twelve minutes later. Jackson explicitly confirmed to law enforcement that he was the individual seen in the surveillance video.
The aftermath of the violent encounter was discovered when another resident of the apartment community entered the leasing office and found the bodies of Jimenez-Macz and Ybarra. Emergency responders and local police were dispatched immediately to the scene, initiating an investigation into the fatal shootings.
Law enforcement officers tracked Jackson down the following day, arresting him on Friday at a local hotel. According to investigative records presented during the court proceedings, authorities recovered spent shell casings in Jackson’s possession at the time of his arrest that were linked directly to the crime scene.
In court, Colson acknowledged that investigators did not yet know the specific nature of the dispute regarding Jackson's lease that initially triggered the confrontation. The hearing proceeded as several relatives of Ybarra sat in the courtroom gallery, observing the presentation of formal charges before declining to comment to reporters.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office had initially intended to seek a hearing to hold Jackson in custody without bail pending trial. However, Colson requested during Wednesday's session that the court establish a monetary bond instead.
Presiding over the case in the 232nd District Court, Judge Josh Hill granted the state's request and ordered Jackson held on a $1 million bond. In determining the bond, Judge Hill noted that Jackson lacked a prior criminal record, addressing an earlier discrepancy in the state's charging documents.
The prosecution's original criminal complaint had alleged that Jackson possessed a prior conviction stemming from a 1998 drug charge. Colson clarified the record before the bench, explaining that the decades-old conviction belonged to an entirely different person who shared the same name as the defendant, and assured the court that prosecutors would correct the complaint.
Defense attorney Chauntelle Wood White, representing Jackson, highlighted her client’s extensive history of military service. White stated that Jackson had retired from the United States Army and had lived in Houston since 2017.
Federal service records indicate that Jackson served as an infantryman and an aviation operations specialist in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserves between 1993 and 2017. Over his service career, he achieved the rank of sergeant first class and completed three overseas deployments, including one tour in Iraq in 2008 followed by two deployments to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.
Jackson remains detained in the Harris County jail under the $1 million bond as the capital murder case moves forward through the criminal justice system.
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