Woman's killing eerily similar to mother's unsolved murder

Charlie Wright and his wife, Norma, hold photos of their deceased daughter and granddaughter. Both women - the mother, Tammy Wright, and the daughter, Jennifer McKinley - died violently, 27 years apart. Charlie Wright and his wife, Norma, hold photos of their deceased daughter and granddaughter. Both women - the mother, Tammy Wright, and the daughter, Jennifer McKinley - died violently, 27 years apart. Photo: Brett Coomer Photo: Brett Coomer Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Woman's killing eerily similar to mother's unsolved murder 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Charlie Wright watched the news three weeks ago, feeling as if the past was staring back at him: Police had just found his granddaughter, 28-year-old Jennifer McKinley, murdered in her Kingwood apartment.

Suddenly, Wright felt jolted back to another time. Old, painful memories filled his mind as fresh grief lined his thoughts.

Almost 27 years ago, police discovered then-2-year-old McKinley alone in a north Houston apartment with three bodies. They found the toddler unharmed, but her mother, 22-year-old Tammy Wright - Charlie's daughter - lay in the bathroom fatally shot. Family members didn't know the others killed, only that Tammy came to the apartment seeking refuge from an abusive boyfriend.

On May 19, Charlie Wright, 72, stared at his television as officers took away McKinley's accused killer, her live-in boyfriend, in handcuffs. Investigators would later tell the family that McKinley's 8-year-old son was home during the killing.

The boy was asleep in his bedroom, not knowing that his mother lay dead, strangled and beaten, in another part of their apartment.

"It's kind of like déjà vu," said Norma Wright, Charlie's wife and Tammy's stepmother.

Went to friend's house

Only a few days before Tammy died in August 1985, she called her father and told him she was leaving her boyfriend, telling him he'd been abusive.

More Information Police need public's help Anyone with information about Tammy Wright's 1985 murder is urged to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

Charlie and Norma asked her to come stay with them. Tammy, known to be tough and independent, seemed to want to handle the situation on her own. She told them she'd go to a friend's home and that she might come over in a few days.

"I should have insisted," Charlie said, his voice trailing.

Family members recall that Tammy's boyfriend may have attempted to break in to the friend's home where she was staying, landing him in jail and later eliminating him as a suspect in her death. Tammy then left with her daughter, 2-year-old Jennifer, to another friend's apartment in north Houston.

It was there that police found her and another woman shot to death in the bathroom. Another man was discovered dead on the living room floor, also fatally shot, according to family members and news reports.

Officers also discovered Jennifer, red stains on her little limbs from walking around the bloody crime scene, hungry and wearing a dirty diaper, Norma said.

Police told family members she may have been there alone at least an entire day before they found her.

The murders went unsolved, further adding to the family's anguish over the years.

"I think about her every day," Charlie said. "I want it settled."

Houston Police Department Homicide investigator Fil Waters interviewed 44-year-old Erick Erminger for nearly two hours after Jennifer's death last month. Erminger admitted to killing his girlfriend almost immediately, Waters said.

"He confessed to the killing but did not want to take full responsibility for what he had done in explaining how and why it had happened," he said.

At some point in the early morning hours, Jennifer woke up Erminger, who'd been drinking the night before, and the couple began to argue.

It's during that time he killed her, Waters said. Erminger told police that he went back to bed and woke up around 9 a.m. to find Jennifer dead.

Old bruises on body

When police arrived, her body was on her bedroom floor, on a makeshift pallet with blankets and a pillow, as if she were sleeping.

Medical examiners determined she died from strangulation and blunt force trauma. On her arms, they also found older bruises, said HPD Sgt. Brian Harris, Waters' partner.

The older bruises were caused by Erminger during a previous argument, Waters said.

Family members say Erminger was physically and emotionally abusive toward Jennifer during their four-year relationship. Friends and family who knew of the abuse pleaded with Jennifer, known to help anyone in need, to leave him several times. Her cousin, Jessica Crew, 27, said Jennifer finally tried to kick him out a few days before she was killed but didn't fully go through with it.

"Maybe she just felt an obligation to take care of him," Crew said.

Erminger was charged with murder in her killing and remains in Harris County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

His lawyer did not return calls.

'Ben loves Mommy'

Family members feel fortunate that Jennifer's son, Ben, her pride and joy, never saw what happened. Harris said the boy was asleep in his bedroom, a room that perfectly emulated Jennifer's love for him.

In a child's penmanship, at the bottom of a chore list on a white erase board in his room, the words "Ben loves Mommy," were written.

Jennifer was buried in a plot next to her mother in their family's hometown in Alabama.

Family members hope that one day Ben, now in the custody of his biological father, will be able to visit the site.

Charlie Wright still holds out hope that police will solve Tammy's murder. In the meantime, he's made himself a promise.

"Anybody that I know that is being mistreated," he said. "If I can talk them out of it, I will."

anita.hassan@chron.com