Seventeen-year-old Christopher Courtemanche was born in Washington, D.C., but moved to Houston, Texas in 1986 and grew up in the Clear Lake area. He attended Clear Lake High School before earning his GED and worked at a local Barnes & Noble bookstore in Pasadena. Known for his artistic talents, he enjoyed drawing and playing guitar. Friends and family described him as a prankster, a tinkerer passionate about cars and gadgets, and someone with an infectious laugh who was the life of any gathering. He had no known enemies and was remembered as a kind, creative young man who shared his interests in art and music with others.
On the night of October 28th, 2001, Christopher joined friends for what was meant to be a fun outing at a street racing event on Rankin Road near Goodnight Trail in north Houston. The location was a known spot for such gatherings, with an estimated hundred or more people present watching races.
After watching a few races, Christopher and a friend left briefly to put air in their tires at a nearby gas station. There were no reported arguments, confrontations, or issues at the event or the station. About fifteen minutes later, as they sat in the friend’s blue 2000 Honda at a red light on Rankin Road at I-45 (shortly before three a.m.), another vehicle pulled up alongside.
An unknown suspect opened fire, shooting four times into the car. Christopher, seated in the passenger seat, was struck twice in the head. The other shots hit the vehicle. He was rushed to a hospital but did not survive.
The shooter fled. Witnesses described the suspect as a Hispanic male in his mid-twenties, wearing distinctive gold-rimmed glasses. He drove a white mid- to late-model SUV. Police released a composite sketch emphasizing the glasses to aid identification.
The Houston Police Department investigated immediately, but no arrests were ever made. No clear motive emerged; there was no prior interaction or dispute involving Christopher. The case eventually went cold.
In 2023, over twenty years later, the Houston Police Cold Case Unit, led by Sgt. Richard Rodriguez, revisited the investigation, but as of this writing in March 2026, the case remains unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 