The feds charged 18-year-old Darius Hall with carjacking. He’s accused of killing Marietta Allison in Houston’s Heights neighborhood during a robbery.
HOUSTON — Federal prosecutors announced that they have leveled serious carjacking and firearms charges against 18-year-old Darius Dewayne Hall in a fatal Heights shooting that claimed the life of a beloved Austin woman.
Hall, who is in custody on state capital murder counts, allegedly shot Marietta Allison during a robbery attempt on March 6, stole her 2019 Toyota Highlander, changed clothes to dodge identification, and led police on a vehicle and foot chase before his arrest.
The nightmare unfolded after Allison, known to friends as a beacon of selfless love, dropped her best friend, Cassie Daniel, at a Heights apartment complex near West 20th Street and Lawrence Street. She’d spent the day supporting Daniel’s first chemotherapy session at MD Anderson Cancer Center for stage four ovarian cancer, even spoon-feeding her fruit during treatment and putting her own work on hold to care for her.
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Witnesses heard a scream and a gunshot as Allison walked back from parking the Highlander around the corner. Hall allegedly rifled through her purse, shot her in the neck, and fled in the SUV. She arrived at Memorial Hermann Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after midnight. Police spotted the stolen vehicle, pursued it to a crash, and chased Hall on foot near Southwest Freeway and Buffalo Speedway, recovering his discarded clothes from the scene.
Friends paint Allison as a profound force of kindness who welcomed Daniel into her Austin home, lived each day fully, and touched countless lives regardless of background.
“Marietta was so rooted in love for every single person,” friend D.L. said.
Daniel added, “She died because she was helping a friend fighting cancer,” vowing to battle on in her honor.
Hall, on community supervision for prior aggravated assault, faces up to life or death on the federal carjacking count, plus 10 years to life on the firearms charge.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron H. Black with the FBI and Houston police.
Meanwhile, the details of Hall’s previous charges are not being disclosed since he was a juvenile at the time. That has led Rep. Lacey Hull to work with Crime Stoppers of Houston on possible legislation.
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Hall told KHOU she has submitted a request to TJJD and Harris County Juvenile Probation regarding Hall’s history.
She added, “I know most information related to juvenile records is protected under law and cannot be publicly released. I am working with Crime Stoppers of Houston to consider changes to this law in situations where a juvenile offender commits a violent offense as an adult.”
As loved ones question a system that left Hall free, Allison’s ripple of compassion endures, fueling Daniel’s cancer fight and a community’s grief.
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