Texas homicide suspects arrested in Kearny Mesa

SAN DIEGO  —  A man and a woman who are persons of interest in a Texas homicide were taken into custody Tuesday night after officers found them sleeping in a vehicle in a Kearny Mesa parking lot.

Officers spotted the white van about 10:40 p.m. in the Costco lot on Othello Avenue near Convoy Street and thought it was suspicious, San Diego police said.

The 1997 Ford was packed with items, including a red-lipped mannequin in a baseball cap, sitting in the front seat, police said.

Officers ran the Texas plates and found that the van and any occupants were wanted in connection with a homicide committed in Houston in July, police said.

Adam Gouy, 26, and Amber Herdman, 30, were taken into custody and the van was impounded. Both were booked on charges of being under the influence of drugs, and Gouy also was booked on a felony warrant, according to the county jail website.

Police Lt. Kevin Mayer said the man gave investigators false information and had no identification on him so his identity was checked through fingerprints.

Houston investigators were notified and were heading to San Diego.

San Diego police confirmed that the pair are wanted for questioning in the case of a 44-year-old Houston businessman who was found shot to death in his vehicle July 15.

Samuel Luke Delaschott was in his SUV parked at a Burger King when he was shot in the head, according to Houston police.

Investigators told KHOU TV at the time that grainy surveillance video showed three people walking up to the vehicle about 4:20 a.m. in what was termed as a surprise attack, and then running away.

Items from the car, as well as Delaschott’s cell phone were taken, police said.

Houston police homicide investigator Mike Miller told the television station that Delaschoot was a good man without no criminal history who was “simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

A Houston police spokesman said the department would not release any further information.