Deputy shoots and kills suspected shoplifter 2 other women with the accused are charged with robbery

Yolanda Craig is charged with robbery. Yolanda Craig is charged with robbery. Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Deputy shoots and kills suspected shoplifter 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

An off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputy said Friday that he was afraid for his life when he fatally shot a suspected shoplifter in a Walmart parking lot.

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Deputy Louis Campbell was working an extra security job at the store in the 10400 block of the North Freeway about 9:45 p.m. Thursday when he fired the shot that killed 27-year-old Shelly Frey.

Sheriff's officials said two other women with Frey at the store were later taken into custody and charged with robbery. They were identified on Friday as Tiasa Andrews, 29, and Yolanda Craig, 38.

Stuffing bags

Prior to the shooting, a Walmart employee told Campbell that a group of women, including Frey, were stuffing store merchandise into their bags.

They paid for a few small items but then tried to leave without paying for the rest, Harris County sheriff's deputies said.

Campbell confronted the women in the doorway and ordered them to stop.

They tried to force their way past him.

One of the women, later identified as Frey, hit the deputy and ran.

Campbell followed them into the parking lot, where the shoplifting suspects climbed into a waiting car.

Campbell opened the car door and ordered Frey to get out. But she refused, officials said.

Andrews began to drive away while the deputy was standing between the open door and the driver's seat.

"She threw it in reverse and tried to run over the deputy," said Thomas Gilliland, a Harris County sheriff's spokesman.

Campbell later told investigators he feared for his safety and opened fire.

The car sped away.

Moments later, someone called 911 to report a woman with a gunshot wound was in a car in a parking lot of an apartment complex in the 1300 block of Greens Parkway.

Houston Fire Department paramedics were unable to revive the woman, who was identified by sheriff's deputies as Frey. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The car matched the description of the one used by the suspected shoplifters, officials said.

Two suspects in jail

Campbell was not seriously injured in the incident. He is a 26-year veteran of the sheriff's office and currently assigned to the detention bureau.

Andrews, the driver of the getaway car, was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

Craig, who was sitting in the back seat, was charged with robbery.

Both women remain at the Harris County Jail with bail set at $30,000.

The Harris County Sheriff's Homicide Unit, the Office of the Inspector General and the Harris County District Attorney's Office are investigating the shooting.

mike.glenn@chron.com

dale.lezon@chron.com