Things were different in Harris County, Texas, two decades ago.  It could be said there was a thirst for blood that is less pronounced now.  Charles Mamou will most likely get an execution date in the near future for a case that was prosecuted when securing a death penalty was a badge of honor, celebrated even.  It was more acceptable in the halls of justice at that time to jam the pieces of the puzzle into place if investigators or a prosecutor ‘wanted’ a particular someone for a crime – or throw the pieces out if need be.   Hopefully, things are different now.   Mamou will pay with his life for the climate of the late 90’s, but it’s not too late to share what the prosecution knew when they tried the case. And what they know today for that matter. There was little interest in finding out what happened back when they could have, and a lot of interest in making a guilty verdict stick – which took some doing with no evidence.

Charles Mamou first wrote for this site in March, 2018.  Out of curiosity, I looked up some articles about him after the first few pieces he submitted.  Two things stood out – allegations of sexual assault, some articles saying he was charged with that crime, and a pair of his sunglasses that were reported to have been left near the body.  It had to be true if he left his sunglasses, right?  I envisioned the location to be an abandoned house on a block of old abandoned houses.  It wasn’t until I started reading Mamou’s case file I learned the sunglasses were miles from the body that was found in a residential neighborhood – and the sexual assault?  There is a lot more to that story as well.

Charles Mamou, Jr., was born and raised in Sunset, Louisiana, and early on he began taking care of his family and broke the law to do it.  Like many before him and since, some of his most successful role models were drug dealers.  And so began his life of crime.  He wasn’t a choir boy, but he had a reputation for helping people out.

Houston, Texas, wasn’t Mamou’s stomping ground.  He didn’t know the area like the back of his hand, but his dad lived there, as well as a couple cousins.  He would travel to the area for ‘business’, if you can call it that.  That is why he was there in December, 1998.  He was involved in a transaction that included several other individuals, all of whom were residents of Houston.  He wasn’t even driving his own car on that trip.  He was staying with a couple in their apartment and was being driven by others tied to the same anticipated business transaction. 

The evening of December 6, 1998, was mild and dry.  Lantern Point Drive, where the ‘drug deal’ and attempted robbery eventually took place, had no lights, and according to police, it was a cloudy night.  Samuel Johnson was driving the car Mamou was in.  Terrence Dodson had been a participant in the transaction earlier in the day, but had since gone home.  The car they met on the dark street where it all took place carried four passengers, including Mary Carmouche.

All surviving parties later admitted to their involvement in a drug deal gone wrong, although no one was ever charged with anything involved in that incident other than Charles Mamou, who was charged with kidnapping when he fled the scene after gunfire erupted and his partner drove away without him.   The deceased individual had a loaded gun next to his body, leaving a good argument for self-defense.  Mary Carmouche was driven to the location by three men who were there to rob Mamou, and she was in the back seat of the car he sped away in. 

When security guards arrived shortly after the shooting, which took place around midnight, one man was dead and two were injured.  Both vehicles were gone.

The two surviving men both testified in court that the vehicle Samuel Johnson was driving drove off first – leaving Charles Mamou behind.  Mamou then jumped into the blue Lexus and fled the scene. 

According to the testimony of Kevin Walter, (Volume 16, of the Reporter’s Record at page 137):

Q.  All right. Then where was the blue Lexus at the point you picked up the gun?

A.  Taking off.

Q.  Where was the red car?

A.  Done took off.

Q.  It had taken off before the blue car?

A.  Yes.

Kevin Walter had no reason to lie about which car took off first, and according to his testimony, Samuel Johnson drove away first in the red car – leaving Charles Mamou, who then jumped in the blue Lexus and drove away.

Dion Holley was the other individual who was shot at the scene.  His testimony (Volume 18, of the Reporter’s Record at page 115) was as follows:

Q.  All right. And what did you see?

A.  I saw the red car backing up and turned around in the street, and I saw the blue car leaving off. 

Q.  When you say you saw the red car backing up and turning around, how did they make – if they’re going backwards, how did they turn around and go the other way?  Is it like a three point turn where they stop, back up, and pull around; or is it like a scene on shows where they’re able to hit the brakes and the car spins around?

A.  That’s pretty much how it was.

Q.  So, it was a very quick thing?

A.  Yes.

Q.  Did it appear to you that the red car was trying to get out of there really quick?

A.  That’s correct.

Q.  And then that vehicle was followed by your mom’s Lexus?

A. That’s correct.

Samuel Johnson, the driver of the red car and Mamou’s associate in the deal, later became a suspect in this case.  Although his version of events contradicted all of the witnesses’ testimony, the prosecution went with his description of what took place.  According to Samuel Johnson’s statement to police, he was not concerned about Charles Mamou or the car that could have held the drugs he was there to buy that night.   He was not concerned about the shooting he had been involved in or the girl whose whereabouts he supposedly knew nothing about.  The following is Johnson’s testimony regarding what happened next (Volume 19, of the Reporter’s Record at page 115):

Q.  You go directly home?

A.  Yeah.

Q.  Tell your wife what happened?

A.  No, she was asleep at the time

Q.  Pretty exciting events in our life, isn’t it?

A.  Very exciting.

Q.  You just get in bed and go to sleep?

A.  No, I took a shower.

Q.  Took a shower, and then got in bed and went to sleep?

A.  No, opened me a can of soda and went to bed.

Q.  Talk to anybody that night?

A.  No

The next morning Samuel Johnson got up in his usual fashion and headed to work – where he was employed as an Orkin man, treating homes in the Houston area.

Charles Mamou has always maintained that he followed Samuel Johnson back to the apartments, with Mary Carmouche in the car.  According to Mamou there were other individuals present in the parking lot of the apartments when they arrived, along with himself, the victim and Johnson.   Twenty years later, there are witnesses that support that.

Until his execution, I will be sharing everything I have learned over the last eighteen months.  All of the information will be on a facebook page, Charles Mamou – How Wrongful Convictions Are Made, where I hope to share what the prosecution knew and what the defense failed to share.  There will also be a catagory on this site, ‘Charles Mamou’, where every blog post will be kept.

Anyone with information regarding what took place in December of 1998, please contact me at kimberleycarter@verizon.net.