Adrean Arrington was fatally shot, and his body was found burning in a car in Southwest Houston in December of 2023.
GoFundMe/GoFundMe
A son allegedly told police he was afraid his father would kill him if he did not help his father burn the body of a veteran his father allegedly shot in the head.
Houston police officers and firefighters responded to a call on Dec. 9, 2023, about a burning car in the 14500 block of Nelson Street, according to court records. After extinguishing the fire, officials discovered Adrean Arrington’s body, who was later determined to have died from a single gunshot wound to the head, according to court records.
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Arrington’s family said in a GoFundMe in 2023 that he was a Marine veteran and the father of “two awesome little kids.” Arrington’s family said that after repeated deployments to Iraq, he struggled with self-medication and to get help at the VA.
“Before we could get the help he truly needed, someone took my baby brother’s life,” the GoFundMe read.
Morris Taylor, 44, was charged July 1 with murder and arson in connection with the killing of Arrington and setting his body on fire inside a parked car, court records show. Taylor was also charged with aggravated kidnapping in connection with his son, who told police he feared his father would kill him if he did not help dispose of Arrington’s body. Taylor’s son had turned 20 the day before the murder, and it was his first time meeting his father, according to a criminal complaint against Taylor.
Another man, Steve Henry, 55, was charged with arson and tampering with evidence, namely abuse of a corpse, in connection with the disposal of Arrington’s body, court records show.
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Arrington was shot at the Economy Inn in southwest Houston, according to the criminal complaint. His body was found burning in his own car about five minutes away in the early hours of Dec. 9, according to the complaint. A young couple sitting in a parked car told police they woke to the smell of gasoline and observed two older men and one younger man who looked frightened, according to the complaint.
The investigation involved surveillance videos, a search warrant for Taylor’s phone obtained in Feb. 2024 and an anonymous tip that listed Taylor and his son as suspects and the Economy Inn as the place of the shooting, according to the complaint. Investigators also spoke with the motel manager and a neighbor, who said Taylor was a regular at the Economy Inn, according to the complaint.
Taylor and his son were arrested the day after the murder for operating a stolen vehicle, according to the complaint. Investigators went back through jail call records and found Taylor told another man over the phone, “I thought they were coming for that, ya know what I’m talking about.”
Investigators contacted Taylor’s son after finding his phone number on Taylor’s phone. Taylor’s son gave a statement to police, saying he had never met his father and was raised in Port Arthur by his mother. Taylor’s son told police he and his girlfriend went to Houston on Dec. 8 to meet his father, and they stayed in his father’s motel room with his step-siblings and a woman named “Queen.” Taylor’s son told police that when he, his girlfriend and step-siblings returned to the room in the early hours of Dec. 9, he and his girlfriend entered the bathroom together. While inside, Taylor’s son told police he heard a gunshot.
Taylor’s son told police that when he exited the bathroom, he saw a man lying shot dead on the floor, and his father holding a 1911-style pistol. Taylor’s son told police another man, his father’s friend whom he only knew as “Steve-O,” then entered the room. The man was later identified by a previous criminal charge as Steve Henry, according to the complaint.
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Taylor’s son told police his father made him join him and Henry in driving both Arrington’s car and his stolen car to Nelson Street to burn Arrington’s body. Taylor’s son told police he believed if he did not comply, his father “would harm him or kill him,” according to the complaint. When an investigator asked Taylor’s son why he thought his father directed him to come help dispose of Arrington’s body instead of his step-siblings, Taylor’s son said he believed it was because Taylor did not raise him.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to deny bail for both Taylor and Henry. Taylor did not have an attorney listed in court records. A message was left with Henry’s attorney Thursday.