Man told to stay away from son who saw his mom killed
A young boy who witnessed a shooting that left his mother dead and him covered in blood is staying with family while his father’s murder case proceeds through the courts, according to Harris County prosecutors.
The 37-year-old father, James Anderson, was prohibited Tuesday from having contact with his 3-year-old child or any other relatives of his wife, Victoria Anderson, 34. She was fatally shot Sunday at the couple’s Kingwood home in the 4300 block of Vista Ridge Drive, officials said.
The shooting followed a frantic 911 call in which the woman said her husband was threatening to shoot her. The dispatcher then heard gunshots over the phone, according to police. Anderson refused to leave the home once officers arrived, prompting a nearly fivehour
standoff.
He allowed the child, whose clothes were covered with blood, to leave the home as the standoff continued, authorities said.
“This is something that we see often in domestic violence cases — we see that children are caught up and they often witness
the abuse of their mothers by their fathers,” said Stephany Abner, a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
She said a history of marital strife and abuse may have preceded the shooting. The husband called 911 in the week prior to report that his wife had taken his guns and locked them in a safe, Abner continued.
Anderson, who lacks a criminal history in Harris County, asked about his son Tuesday while meeting with his courtappointed lawyer for the first time.
“He wants to make sure he’s being taken care of — and I’m sure he is,” defense attorney Tucker Graves said.
Abner described the boy as a witness to his mother’s death in order to prohibit contact — a designation to which Graves took exception.
“I find it hard to believe that (prosecutors) would use the 3year-old as a witness, but that’s their call,” Graves said.
Anderson had served as Cleveland ISD’s chair of the special education department at Santa Fe Middle School, which put him on leave following the arrest.
“Cleveland ISD is deeply saddened to hear of the tragic domestic violence situation involving one of the staff members at Santa Fe Middle School,” district officials said in a statement. “Mr. Anderson has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation.”
Anderson, who joined the school in 2022, wrote on their website that he enjoyed being with family.
A magistrate ordered that Anderson be held on $300,000 bail. He is scheduled in December to return to court.
A recent University of Houston study found that countywide domestic violence deaths increased during the pandemic.
Experts said while the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns may have contributed to the violence, those reasons could not wholly explain the increase.
About 73% of the deaths involved firearms, according to the study.