Arrest Made in Deadly Houston Teen Club Shooting After Year-Long Investigation

Breakthrough in Tragic Case

Houston police have announced an arrest in connection with a deadly 2024 shooting at a northeast Houston 'makeshift club', with 19-year-old Jakorian Mouton charged with capital murder and tampering with evidence on Thursday for his role in a shooting that killed two people and wounded four others on December 14, 2024. Mouton was arrested on June 9 by Beaumont police department officers, along with members of the Southeast Texas Violent Crime Taskforce.

The shooting claimed the lives of 16-year-old Randle King, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and 14-year-old A'Ziria Bankhead, who also died from her injuries. Four additional female victims were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, with one of the injured victims reported to be just 13 years old.

Houston police say it took more than a year, but they developed evidence linking Mouton to the shootings. KFDM learned Mouton had been placed on five years probation in 2024 for two Hardin County cases: Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity and Theft of a Firearm.

The Illegal Venue

Houston police were called to a shooting in progress just before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, 2024, to Jensen Drive at Topping Street, which is just off of Eastex Freeway and near the intersection with Parker Road, in north Houston. On Instagram, the venue is known as "The Curfew Club" and is advertised as "the hottest teen club in Houston."

According to Houston Public Works, inspectors visited the building days after the shooting and determined the club was operating illegally, with city records showing the last application for a certificate of occupancy was filed in October 2023, and an inspection conducted in February 2024 identified deficiencies that needed to be corrected, but the project became inactive after the issues were not addressed.

Witnesses told KPRC 2 that attendees were charged a cover fee to enter the event and an additional fee for guests who brought their own alcohol. "Since it's non-sanctioned, they are not under any regulations, which is what causes the problems with these types of events," said Assistant Chief Luis Menendez-Sierra, adding "No regulations, there's nothing guarding it, nothing to make sure that it's a legit establishment."

The Attack and Investigation

When authorities arrived, they saw a large number of juveniles and young adults running from the venue. Witnesses told investigators that the suspected shooter shot into a crowd of people, with multiple witnesses reporting seeing a tall, thin male dressed in all black clothing, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and face mask, firing a handgun into the crowd before fleeing.

King's mother previously told KPRC 2 that her son, an aspiring singer and rap artist, had attended the event to perform live, saying "He just always loved music, so he decided to make that his career," though according to his mother, King never got the opportunity to take the stage before gunfire erupted.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire also responded to the scene and called the shooting a preventable tragedy, saying "We lost some young people tonight that was very preventable, if they didn't come to locations such as this."

Looking Forward

The investigation remains ongoing. This arrest brings some measure of closure to families devastated by the tragedy, though it also highlights ongoing concerns about unlicensed venues operating without proper safety oversight. The case underscores the vulnerability of young people seeking entertainment in unregulated spaces where basic security measures may be absent.

The charges against Mouton represent a significant development in a case that shocked the Houston community and raised serious questions about how such venues are allowed to operate. As the legal process moves forward, the focus will likely turn to preventing similar tragedies through better enforcement of venue regulations and youth safety measures.