Detectives: Coach with Prostitute When Shot

HOUSTON - Harris County Sheriff's detectives say a beloved high school varsity football coach was not the victim of a carjacking in mid-August; instead they say he was the victim of a shooting at a motel where he had met with a prostitute.


Lionell Crawford, 41, the head football coach at Aldine Senior High School, was shot on Aug. 13 at the Scottish Inn and Suites on Rankin Road in north Houston (next to Houston Dolls, and a stone's throw from St. James).


Crawford admitted to investigators he rented a room at the motel where he arranged to meet with Latangia Monique Grigsby, 26, and another female. He said the meeting with Grigsby was his second.


Within ten minutes of Grigsby entering the motel room, Crawford told investigators someone knocked at the door and Grigsby asked to use his handgun to scare the visitor she referred to as a friend. Crawford carried the weapon because he had a concealed handgun permit.


After an unidentified man entered the room, Grigsby stepped aside holding Crawford's gun, according to a statement on the Harris County District Clerk's website. The man who wore a blue mask pointed a gun at Crawford and made verbal threats toward him.


Crawford told investigators he struggled to grab the gun from the intruder and was shot in the abdomen. Following the shooting, Crawford said Grigsby and the masked suspect ran out of the motel room together.


Investigators determined a cell phone found in the room belonged to Grigsby, who was later identified as a suspect.


After Crawford identified Grigsby by photo, she was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. She was released from jail after posting $30,000 bond.


Investigators have not found the unidentified shooting suspect.


Crawford returned to Aldine Senior High in early September to resume his position as coach after recovering from the shooting at Ben Taub General Hospital.