Three Houston-area men arrested in execution-style killing of Spring couple

Aakiel Kendrick was charged with capital murder. Aakiel Kendrick was charged with capital murder. Photo: HCSO Photo: HCSO Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Three Houston-area men arrested in execution-style killing of Spring couple 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

Three Houston-area men were arrested Wednesday for allegedly tying up and executing a wealthy Spring couple during a botched burglary in their home in an exclusive gated community last week, arrests authorities made after receiving tips from the public.

The discovery last Saturday of the couple, shot to death in their $800,000 home in the Northgate Forest community, shocked the quiet residential area and launched an intensive investigation by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The young men repeatedly returned to the home after the murders, and brazenly hauled off more possessions owned by the couple before their bodies were found days later by one of their children, authorities confirmed.

The accused men - Aakiel Kendrick, 21, Khari Kendrick, 23, and Erick Peralta, 20 - all face capital murder charges after one of the trio allegedly confessed, according to the sheriff's office.

Bao and Jenny Lam, both 61 and immigrants from Asia, were found bound and shot to death Saturday night in their 5,000 square-foot home, two days after investigators say they were executed in the secluded neighborhood during a burglary that escalated after the couple returned and surprised the crew.

"Through good, old-fashioned police work and our public's help, we have accomplished our goals of holding accountable those responsible for these heinous crimes, bringing some closure to the Lam family and making sure that these individuals don't harm anymore human beings in our county," said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez during a press conference.

PAST COVERAGE: Persons of interest sought in Spring execution-style double murder

News of the arrests came less than 24 hours after Gonzalez put out a plea for help solving the "brazen" attack in the gated community. The sheriff and Lt. Christopher Sandoval from the homicide division explained how tips from the public helped them locate the suspects and the car, even as a winter storm battered the city.

Investigators began to receive information from the public shortly after surveillance footage was aired by the media showing two men pulling up to the subdivision in a Lincoln Navigator around 8:20 p.m. Thursday. The men could be seen parking, and then crawling under the gate enclosing the subdivision.

Just over 20 minutes later, the Lams came back from dining out and pulled into the garage at their home on Glorietta Turn. As they stepped out of their car, they were ambushed and forced inside the house.

The thieves ransacked the house, stealing guns and jewelry. Then, they left just before midnight driving the couple's Porsche - only to return repeatedly in the following days, a move Gonzalez described as "very brazen."

The couple's son, Richard Lam, was the first to realize something was amiss. On Saturday, after the couple hadn't answered their phones for two days, he headed over to check on them personally.

When no one came to the door, he called 911. Arriving deputies found the home locked, so Lam helped break a window to allow them entry. Inside, they found his parent's bodies in the ransacked home.

Afterward, investigators tracked down surveillance footage that recorded the men crawling under the subdivision gate once just before the slayings - and again and again in the days that followed. When authorities finally captured the suspects, they found property linking them to the killing.

On Wednesday, Richard Lam stood somberly with his sister and other loved ones to thank the sheriff's office and media for their help.

"We are relieved in having these three men off the streets, no longer able to harm anybody else," he said. "We are all extremely grateful for the hard work that the men and women in blue did around the clock."

His parents first moved to the U.S. in the 1970s from Taiwan and Laos. They enrolled in college, then ended up working multiple jobs to support their children.

Eventually, they went into business and opened Marble Slab Creamery franchises and later, a number of Subway sandwich businesses.

The sheriff's office said the suspected killers did not know the Lams, but may have been familiar with the tony neighborhood where they lived. One of the men, Khari Kendrick, has numerous prior arrests for theft, burglary and engaging in organized crime in 2013.

"The ambush nature of the attack and the ruthlessness tells us that it wouldn't be surprising that they've committed similar incidents," Gonzalez told reporters.

Investigators also believe the suspects could've used the same Lincoln Navigator to commit other crimes and asked the public to provide the sheriff's office with additional information they have concerning the three men. The public should contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office at (713) 274-9100 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS. All three men have been booked into the Harris County Jail.

"We finished the first important hurdle," Gonzalez said, "but we want to make sure that if others have been victimized out there that we also bring some closure and justice to them as well."