HOUSTON – The mother of a man charged with one of the killings in Acres Homes spoke out in support of her son Monday.

Brian Ranard Davis is charged with capital murder in the death of Kandus Hightower-Sharp. 

Sharp’s body was found about 10 miles from the Acres Homes area in August of last year, stabbed and burned alive.

But Davis’ mother emphatically denied his involvement in any of the killings in a press conference with local activist Quannell X. 

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Brian Ranard Davis

“I didn’t raise a killer, and I don’t feel like he has a murderer’s heart, especially against so many females,” she said. “I would just like everyone to give him a fair chance to have a fair day in court.”

The bodies of as many as eight women found in the area over the last few years have prompted many to believe there is a serial killer on the loose.

The Acres Homes investigation has frustrated police, who say the women’s lifestyle hampered efforts to narrow down suspects or to gather DNA evidence.

“We’re dealing with individuals who don’t have stable residences, who come into contact with so many people,” Shorten said. “It makes it more difficult to establish a timeline of the people they’ve been with.”

Even though Hightower-Sharp’s body was found more than 10 miles away from Acres Homes, the killings have some similarities.

Like Hightower-Sharp, the bodies of the Acres Homes victims were found tossed in drainage ditches or in patches of overgrown grass by roadsides. Like Hightower-Sharp, those victims also had troubled histories of drug use and prostitution.

Police have not connected Davis to any of the other killings, but statements from informants could link him to at least one other murder: that of 18-year-old Willie Bianca Jones.

But Quannell X and Davis’ mother dismissed the statements by at least one of those informants Monday.

The activist said Davis told him two men from the Greenspoint area with whom he’d had a previous conflict are the ones who called investigators, naming Davis as a suspect in the Hightower-Sharp murder.

According to Quannell X, Davis was actually in jail at the time many of the Acres Homes bodies were discovered.  He said the suspect never went to the Acres Homes area.

Police arrested Davis Friday after Hightower-Sharp’s DNA was found in the trunk of his girlfriend’s car.

A police affidavit said at one point, Hightower-Sharp was placed in the trunk and could be heard kicking from the inside.

Quannell X said Monday that Davis’ girlfriend, who police say heard the noise, told her boyfriend’s family she did not recall hearing anything.

“My concern about this case is, we want to make sure that due diligence is done by investigators. We want to make sure that if he is the real murderer, then he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Quannel X said. “But we want to make sure there’s not a rush to judgment publically in this case.”

Quannell X said the Davis believes he is being set up.

“There is more to this case than meets the eye,” he said. “I don’t want the people in Acres Homes or in this city to let their guard down. Stay vigilant, stay on alert, because I believe the real killer is still out there.”

Davis’ mother said she feels helpless and only wants her son to get a fair trial.

“Being a black man, being a tried man, being a haunted man, it’s just a horrible life to live,” she said.