Suspect charged in fatal shooting of Houston-area deputy who responded to assault at pizza restaurant

HOUSTON — A suspect has been arrested and charged in the fatal shooting of a Houston-area sheriff’s deputy who was helping search for a man who pistol-whipped a Little Caesars Pizza employee over a mistaken order, authorities said.

Deputy Sheriff Fernando Esqueda, 28, was killed early Thursday morning after reporting that he had located the vehicle of the suspect in the assault, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

Ronald Palmer Jr. was arrested around 7 p.m. Thursday, Gonzalez said at a news conference Thursday night, hours after authorities urged him to surrender.

Court documents show Palmer is jailed on charges of capital murder of a police officer and two counts of aggravated assault. Prosecutors have asked that he be held without bail.

Court and jail records do not list an attorney who could speak on Palmer’s behalf. Phone numbers associated with Palmer were either disconnected or messages were not immediately returned Friday morning.

Harris County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene of a reported assault at a Little Caesars pizza restaurant in the Houston area shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday. A customer who had come to pick up a pizza became upset because the order was incorrect and struck the clerk with a pistol and fled, Harris County Chief Deputy Mike Lee said.

The clerk provided a description of the customer’s vehicle and its license plate number, which was traced to a location where deputies began searching for the vehicle, Lee said.

Esqueda located the vehicle around midnight Thursday, Gonzalez said. Officers found Esqueda had been hit by multiple bullets and rushed him to the hospital.

“We don’t know exactly what happened at that point. Again, we’re still trying to put the pieces together,” Gonzalez said. “But at that point, it appears he was ambushed. He was seriously injured by gunfire and was pronounced dead at the hospital upon arrival.”

Esqueda was “highly regarded” as a member of an elite task force focused on violent individuals and had worked at the sheriff’s office for about five years, Lee said.

The deputy sheriff worked 12-hour shifts with all other sheriff’s department personnel to ensure security and prevent looting after Hurricane Beryl, Lee said.