BROOKSHIRE, Texas (Covering Katy News)—In January 1992, Raphael Rogers-Davis became locally famous when he was heralded in the local newspaper as the first baby born in Katy that year.
"The news reporters rushed in with the cameras and said we need to do a report, and they started getting information on the baby," Sherrel Rogers, Raphael's mother, said.
At first, she refused to cooperate, as she was recuperating after giving birth. But she relented, and the photo appeared on the front page of the Katy Times.
Earlier this month, Raphael was murdered in Houston. He was shot once in the chest, Rogers said, and his body was found in Buffalo Bayou. It is not clear how long his body had been there.
Rogers, now a photojournalist who manages the Brookshire News Facebook page and contributes to both Covering Katy and the Katy Times, knows the importance of sharing stories with the public—even the painful ones.
"The Harris County Medical Examiner has the technology to do the fingerprints, and they found that this is who he was," Rogers said.
Raphael was thirty-two.
Rogers said authorities do not know when or where, precisely, the murder took place. They do not know who would have done such a thing, or why. Raphael wore Air Jordan sneakers, Rogers said, and they were not on the body when it was discovered. She said his being murdered for his sneakers was a guess, not a certainty.
"I think there was probably a scuffle," Rogers said.
Despite the sadness of having an empty chair at the Christmas dinner table, Rogers is sharing Raphael's story in hopes of learning all the details and bringing the killer, or killers, to justice.
James Davis, a truck driver in Brookshire, is Raphael's father. Chaya Calip, who lives in Houston, is Raphael's older sister. They joined Rogers in television appearances this week to talk about Raphael—a sensitive task given the holiday and, on Jan. 2, what would have been his thirty-third birthday.
"Raphael was a good little boy," Rogers said. "Quiet and curious, inquisitive. He loved screws. He liked to play games."
Rogers said Raphael also loved electronics. Once, she said, he took a chip out of a PlayStation and successfully inserted it into a PlayStation 2.
Raphael grew up in Brookshire, attending Royal High School before moving to Katy and attending Mayde Creek High School. He dropped out of school and later earned his GED, Rogers said. He became father to a young son, Malachi, who also survives him.
Rogers said she was returning home from a doctor's appointment when Chaya called. It had been a good day, she said, until the call came. The medical examiner's office had given Chaya the news first.
"I got off the phone with her, and I waited until I got closer to Brookshire," Rogers said.
By talking about Raphael and asking for the public's help in solving the case, Rogers, Davis, and Chaya hope to bring some good out of a senseless act. Houston Police shared what it knew with Crime Stoppers of Houston, which is offering a reward for information leading to arrest and conviction in the case. For more information, call 713-222-TIPS (8477).
Courtesy Sherrel Rogers
Sherrel Rogers, center, holds her son Raphael Rogers Davis in this January 9, 1992 issue of the Katy Times.