HOUSTON, Texas — A woman was shot and killed during a drug deal gone wrong at a northeast Houston storage facility after a cocaine transaction involving $125,000 allegedly fell apart, according to court records.
Sherry Dawson, 33, was fatally shot in November at a storage unit along the Eastex Freeway. Court documents state the killing stemmed from a failed drug deal involving Dawson’s common-law husband, Matthew Jasso, and a buyer who never received the drugs he paid for.
Kip Stitts, of Detroit, Michigan, has been charged with murder in connection with Dawson’s death. As of Wednesday, authorities said he remained at large.
Investigators described Stitts as a former friend and business associate of Jasso, who later admitted to police that he was involved in drug trafficking as a middleman.
According to investigators, surveillance video from the morning of Nov. 5 shows a pickup truck following Dawson into the storage facility. Footage shows a brief confrontation between Dawson and the driver before she was shot. The suspect then fled the scene.
While officers were processing the scene, Jasso arrived and initially told police Dawson had gone to the storage unit to retrieve items. After learning she had been killed, he became distraught and told investigators he believed he knew who was responsible and why.
Court documents cited by ABC13 state that Jasso told police he acted as an intermediary in a drug trafficking operation, collecting money from buyers and passing it to a supplier. About a month before Dawson’s death, Jasso introduced Stitts to the supplier to arrange a large cocaine purchase.
According to Jasso, Stitts planned to rob the supplier. Jasso said he warned the supplier, who then decided to take Stitts’ money without delivering the drugs as retaliation.
Investigators said Stitts paid Jasso $125,000 for the cocaine, but the shipment never arrived. Jasso told police the supplier kept the money, gave Jasso a $10,000 cut, and that Jasso later blocked Stitts’ phone number.
Jasso said he learned about two weeks before the shooting that Stitts was looking for him and believes his wife was killed over the stolen money.
Court records show cellphone data placed Stitts’ phone near Dawson’s home prior to the shooting, at the storage facility around 10:10 a.m., and later traveling north toward Detroit the same day. Records also indicated calls to another person whose phone activity suggested that individual picked up Stitts after the shooting.
Police said another vehicle registered to Stitts was stopped in Atascocita hours after the killing, but Stitts was not inside. Investigators later determined his phone began pinging in Detroit the following day.
The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue searching for Stitts.
