SandyMaloneHouston, TX – The woman who shot a man in the head live on social media turned herself in to police on Wednesday afternoon to answer to new charges.
Initially, Cassandra Damper told officers that 26-year-old Devyn Holmes shot himself in the head early on Easter morning when he and Damper and their friend Cadillac Coleman were playing with two handguns inside a vehicle while they posted live to Facebook.
Officers quickly learned about the video, and figured out what was really going on, so they bagged up Damper and Coleman’s hands for gun residue testing.
Police caught Damper, 25, trying to clean off her hands, and arrested her for tampering with evidence, but they said investigators were still providing evidence to prosecutors and that the charges might be upgraded.
Originally, she was released on a $2,500 bond, but shortly thereafter, the Harris County District Attorney’s office issued a warrant for her arrest on the charge of felony aggravated assault with reckless serious bodily injury.
Police tweeted her picture and a request for information about her whereabouts on Wednesday.
Damper turned herself in late on Wednesday afternoon, and was released again on $25,000 bond, according to KIAH.
She was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning, but her attorney made the appearance for her. The date of her next hearing has not yet been scheduled.
The mother of the man Damper shot told reporters that she thought the young woman was getting off far too easily.
“He didn’t deserve this and she deserves more than what she’s getting,” Sheree Holmes told KIAH, clearly angry about Damper’s initial release.
“A $2,500 bond? People get more for smoking weed,” she said, sounding disgusted. “My son is fighting for his life and she’s walking around free.”
Sheree also said she didn’t consider what happened to be an accident.
“I think it was intended… that’s my opinion… she called it an accident. But she also said he did it himself. So what? She also washed her hands. Do you wash your hands after an accident? Why would you cover up an accident? You cover up a crime. You don’t cover up an accident,” Sheree ranted to reporters.
She said her son knew Damper because they had both attended Lamar.
Houston police put out an update on Wednesday, announcing the new charges after prosecutors had been given an opportunity to view the video of the shooting.
The video showed Damper and Holmes sitting in the front seat of the car, while Coleman sat in the back seat.
The footage briefly cut out, and a handgun could clearly be seen resting on the center console after the video resumed.
“Lyin’ a** hoe,” Damper said, possibly to someone who had tuned into the live video stream.
She then reached over and picked up the handgun, with her finger on the trigger.
“You see what we doin’ to lyin’ a** hoes?” she said, as she pointed the weapon at the camera. “We draw down.”
Simultaneously, Holmes reached over, covered the weapon’s slide, and momentarily appeared to try to take the gun from Damper.
“Hey man,” he said to her. “You’re making me nervous.”
“We draw down on them hoes!” Damper yelled, as Holmes let go of the weapon.
“She ain’t got no clip, bud,” Coleman told Holmes, while Damper racked the slide, which had a loaded round in the chamber. She then raised the weapon towards Holmes.
In an instant, she pulled the trigger, and Holmes’ head fell to the side.
Damper gasped, and set the gun back on the console while she and Coleman jumped out of the vehicle.
An off-duty firefighter who was a friend of Damper happened to be nearby, and with the help of another bystander, Chas Martin was able to pull Holmes out of the vehicle and begin CPR while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.
Holmes remains in stable condition on life support in the hospital.