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Uber Driver Charged In Murder Of Houston Pastor During Possible Road Rage Incident
Authorities allege that Deshawn Longmire had a verbal altercation with Pastor Ronald Mouton Sr. at a stoplight in Houston, then pulled out a gun and opened fire.
A suspect has been arrested and charged in the death of a Houston pastor in what authorities have called a potential road rage incident.
Ronald Mouton Sr., 58, the pastor of the East Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, was shot in his own vehicle on June 24 along the city's Gulf Freeway — not far from the church where he served for more than three decades, reports ABC13 Houston. Police did not immediately make any arrests.
But on July 29, authorities arrested Deshawn Longmire, a 23-year-old Uber driver from Pearland, and charged him with Mouton’s murder.
Witnesses allegedly saw two men arguing at a stoplight from inside their vehicles, according to an arrest report obtained by NBC affiliate Click2Houston. Mouton was driving a BMW and Longmire was driving for Uber in a black Honda sedan with tinted windows, the arrest report states.
Witnesses told police that, when both vehicles started moving again, Longmire “stretched his arm out of the driver window with a pistol in his hand,” allegedly shot Mouton and then drove off. Surveillance footage showed Mouton crashing his vehicle into a curb; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Longmire told investigators that he was not in the area at the time of the shooting, according to court records cited by ABC13. However, authorities allege Uber records found on Longmire’s phone indicate he was, in fact, in the area at the time.
Longmire is currently being held on a $500,000 bond.
Family and friends of Mouton are thankful the suspect is off the streets but are still struggling with the grieving process. His family set up a memorial in his honor at the crime scene. Mouton leaves behind a wife, four children and 10 grandchildren.
"He was not just a great man inside the church, but outside the church walls," Bishop James Dixon, a close friend, told ABC13 Houston. "He was a family man, a loving husband, and father, and just a great human being, raised by a great father and mother."
