Kidnapping victim killed during botched FBI raid outside Houston

Friday, January 26, 2018

New mugshots have been released of two of the suspects in a deadly kidnapping.

HOUSTON, Texas (WPVI) -- New information is coming in about the man killed in a botched rescue by the FBI after he was kidnapped from his home outside Houston.

In a twist revealed late Thursday, court documents show the Conroe kidnapping victim, who was killed during an FBI raid, was related to the wife of one of the suspects.

Jimmy Tony Sanchez and Nicholas Chase Cunningham were booked into the Montgomery County jail on charges of aggravated kidnapping. The men and a third suspect, Sophia Perez Heath, were due in court Friday morning.

According to the probable cause documents, the victim told one of the suspects during the kidnapping that he knew his parents. It turns out Nicholas Chase Cunningham is married to the victim's cousin.

According to the criminal complaint, the suspects demanded $20,000 in ransom as the victim was held at gunpoint in a northeast Houston home. Initially, they told the victim his brother owed them $8,000.

Furthermore, investigators allege the suspects threatened the victim's other family members, who they could easily name because the victim is related to Cunningham by marriage. Cunningham reportedly told investigators he also had a girlfriend, who was identified as Heath, and that the victim was being held at her house in northeast Houston. Heath, Cunningham and Sanchez were arrested in the kidnapping plot.

The revelation came hours removed from the case unraveling in opposite ends of the Houston area.

According to Conroe, Texas police, everything began with a home invasion Wednesday morning at the victim's home on Tyler Lane. He and his 12-year-old son were reportedly bound with duct tape.

Conroe police Chief Philip Dupuis said two suspects took the father with them and left the child behind. The boy later managed to get free and run to a neighbor's house where police were called.

Over the next three hours, the kidnappers called the man's brother and made demands. Conroe police contacted the FBI for assistance in the case.

Authorities tracked down two of the three suspects through a cell phone to a hotel in Webster. The suspects were arrested.

ABC13's Deborah Wrigley reports from Webster, where authorities arrested 2 of 3 suspects in a far-reaching kidnapping case.

Police were able to locate the victim to a home on Elbert Street in northeast Houston, where authorities moved in and made contact with the third remaining suspect. The details of exactly what happened are not yet clear, but one FBI agent fired shots.

Federal agents investigating deadly shooting in northeast Houston.

The kidnapping victim was fatally injured, and pronounced dead at LBJ Hospital.

The FBI says two children were inside the home when the man was killed. Family came and picked up a boy and a girl.

Cunningham, 42; Sanchez, 38; and Heath, 35 were charged with aggravated kidnapping. Cunningham and Sanchez were additionally charged with aggravated robbery.

Brett Ligon, the Montgomery County district attorney, says his office will look into the possibility of murder charges in the case since the suspect's alleged actions led to the victim's death.

Meanwhile, the FBI has remained tight-lipped on the entire incident.

"I can't tell you specifically why we were here, but I can tell you that it was an FBI operation," said Christina Garza with the Houston FBI, when asked of the agency's role during the raid.