Texas mom used 14-year-old daughter as ‘human shield’ after police chase: video
A Texas mom was caught in harrowing video using her 14-year-old daughter as a “human shield” after a high-speed police chase — and even shouting at cops to “shoot” them, according to officials.
Houston-area police initially thought theft suspect Tenescha Selena Henry, 35, was holding a crying hostage in a chokehold during the July 20 standoff and were shocked that the girl was actually her daughter.
“At that point, I 100% believed that we had a hostage situation,” Deputy A. Peters told KTRK. “I distinctly remember her at times saying, ‘Shoot! Shoot me! Shoot us!'” the deputy said of the mom.
“To put your own family member, not to mention your daughter, right in front of that potential danger is just kind of crazy to me.”
The mom had already led police on a 25-mile chase at speeds of up to 100 mph as she made “multiple unsafe lane changes and traveling the wrong way,” cops said.
The pursuit ended in a parking lot on Cullen Boulevard near Beltway 8 when Henry ran out of gas.
“The driver failed to comply and pulled a juvenile passenger out of the vehicle. The driver proceeded to place the juvenile in a chokehold and position them as a human shield,” police said.
“During the standoff, Deputy Peters was able to position herself behind the suspect and utilize her Taser to safely subdue the suspect,” the statement added.
In the chilling footage, Henry is seen holding the crying girl.
“She essentially got out of the vehicle, walked around to the front of the car, opened the passenger side door,” Peters told KTRK. “She grabbed an unknown female out of the passenger side and proceeded to grab her, take her out of the car where she, unfortunately, put her in what we would call a chokehold and put her in front of law enforcement.”
Peters said she went to the vehicle and discovered a third person — believed to be Henry’s current or former romantic partner — in the backseat. He was placed in a patrol car without incident.
She then prepared to use her Taser on Henry without hitting the girl.
She said the girl was shouting at her mom to stop.
After Henry was stunned and arrested, the girl was released to a grandparent.
“We found over 20 pieces of what we would call identifying information, so numerous cards, debit cards, credit cards, Social Security cards, health insurance cards, things like that, driver’s licenses,” Peters said.
“Further investigation revealed the identifying items were taken without consent and Henry had attempted to use the credit/debit cards,” police said.
Henry was charged with evading arrest, child endangerment and fraud. She remains in Harris County jail and is due back in court Sept. 27.
Peters said she and her fellow deputies used their training and experience to end the scary incident peacefully.
“That’s ultimately the main goal that we have every day,” said said. “Not only do we want to go home, we want to make sure everybody else goes home as well.”
