Investigators say the victim’s husband described a cocaine scheme that soured weeks before the Nov. 5 shooting.
HOUSTON, Texas — A Detroit man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of 33-year-old Sherry Dawson at a northeast Houston storage complex on Nov. 5, according to investigators. The man, identified as Kip Stitts, is not in custody and is believed to have returned to Michigan after the killing.
Authorities say the case stems from a six-figure cocaine transaction that never produced drugs. Court filings outline how Dawson’s common-law husband described introducing Stitts to a supplier and taking a $10,000 cut after Stitts allegedly paid $125,000 for a shipment. Detectives now link that unpaid deal to the shooting at a facility along the Eastex Freeway, where surveillance cameras captured a pickup following Dawson inside the gate that morning. The charge marks a key step in a months-long investigation that has drawn attention across two states and left a suspect wanted in a killing tied to alleged trafficking.
Investigators say Dawson arrived at the storage site shortly after 10 a.m. on Nov. 5 to retrieve items from her husband’s unit. Security video shows a truck tailing her through the entrance before the gate closed. Inside, footage captured a struggle at the unit: Dawson fell, got up, then fell again before the suspect fled. Police were called to the 6400 block of Eastex Freeway around 10:15 a.m., where Dawson was found with multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead. Detectives later learned that Stitts and Dawson’s husband had once been friends and business associates. “Stitts has previous convictions for drug charges, assault with a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault,” prosecutors wrote in a bond request, arguing he poses a flight risk.
According to investigators, Dawson’s husband told police he connected Stitts to a cocaine source weeks earlier. He said Stitts paid $125,000, and he kept $10,000 for brokering the deal. The buyer allegedly never received any cocaine, and communication broke off. Roughly two weeks before the shooting, the husband said he heard Stitts was looking for him and believed his wife was targeted over the missing money. License records tied the suspect to a Ford F-250 purchased in Beaumont days before the killing, detectives said. Hours after the shooting, officers in Atascocita stopped another vehicle registered to Stitts, but he was not inside. Phone data later pinged in Detroit the next day, according to the case file. Authorities said Dawson’s husband admitted to involvement in drug trafficking and working as a middleman.
The homicide fits a pattern detectives sometimes see when illicit deals fall apart, officials said, but the contours are stark: a six-figure payment, a brokered connection, and a victim with no role in the missing product. Records outline prior convictions attributed to Stitts and detail how phone location data placed him near Dawson’s home in the days leading up to the shooting, suggesting surveillance before the attack. The storage site sits off U.S. 59 on Houston’s northeast side, an area lined with warehouses, small businesses and a cluster of self-storage facilities that often rely on cameras and key-pad gates. Investigators say those cameras were crucial in reconstructing Dawson’s final movements.
Stitts is charged with murder in Harris County. A $1 million bond was requested in the case filings. As of Tuesday, authorities say he has not been apprehended. Detectives are coordinating with counterparts in Michigan while pursuing additional warrants and collecting more digital evidence. The case is expected to proceed to a grand jury as prosecutors review surveillance footage, phone records and witness statements. Any future hearing dates will be set if Stitts is arrested or surrenders; officials have not given a timeline.
Neighbors near the storage complex described a quiet stretch that turns busy at midday as customers shuffle in and out. A grounds worker who declined to give his name said he saw police swarming rows of units late that morning and watched yellow tape go up. A shop owner nearby said the gates typically close quickly behind cars but noted that trailing vehicles can slip in. “It’s scary because people come here to store family things,” the owner said. “You don’t expect something like that in broad daylight.” Dawson’s name was not widely known in the area, but some regulars left flowers along the fence in the days after the killing.
As of late Tuesday, the case remains open with a warrant for Stitts on the murder charge and coordination underway with out-of-state agencies. Prosecutors said more filings could follow as evidence is processed. The next major step would be Stitts’ arrest and an initial court appearance in Harris County.
Author note: Last updated January 20, 2026.