Circumstances of the Murder
(last updated 8/09/2006)
My father, Reverend William Huang, bought Lucky Seafood Market in December 2005 to support the family. Starting in February 2006 - my father was finally able to hire enough employees so that he did not have to be as hands on – this gave him more time to spend with the family in the evenings. On the night of the murder, our family was celebrating my youngest brother’s 10 th birthday. At around 8:45pm , my father informed us and the guests that he was going to go close up the store.
Leon Lugo Andradé, a man with a history of violence, had a protective order against him for over a year for regularly beating his wife and children throughout their relationship. Just in Houston alone, Andradé has a long criminal record starting with a murder/manslaughter 15 years, continuing with numerous DWI’s, firing a weapon and carrying a shotgun in a public place. When the wife finally left him, he became increasingly threatening, forcing his ex-wife and children to move every few months When Andradé finally located his ex-wife’s sister, he threatened her with a gun in trying to locate his ex-wife. This ex-wife was recently hired by my father and the daughter would come to the store everyday after school to be with her mom. The mother had told my father about her ex-husband being abusive and how she feared him – and that calling the police never helped since the police were always a step behind.
On the day of the murder, Andradé again threatened his ex-wife’s sister at her home. Distraught, the sister came to work to warn the ex-wife and daughter. The police believe that is when Andradé followed her to my father’s restaurant and waited for his ex-wife to emerge. Later when my father came back to the restaurant ready to close up, the daughter told him that she may have seen her father’s car driving by earlier. My father offered to make sure they made it safely to their car. Right after my father finished locking the doors, Andradé appeared and began arguing with his wife in Spanish and asking who my father was. The daughter and mother insisted that he was just their boss in their new jobs. The daughter then hugged her father and said in Spanish, “He is Mom’s new boss because you never give us money!!” Andrade started showing violence towards his wife at this point and my father tried to go in to protect her. Andrade threatened my father and the daughter suggested to my father to hurry up and leave before something happens to him. However, an already wild Andradé turned on my father. At this point, my father replied with a suggestion that he calm down, since nobody wanted trouble. Andradé returned to his van, retrieved a machete and began to chase my father around his car. The surveillance camera shows that they circled the cars several times during the chase, and my father had numerous opportunities to escape. It was only 10:20pm when these events started and there were tons of cars passing by on the busy street in front of the parking lot. The police, mother, and daughter agree that my father feared for the life of the wife and circled the cars to stay near. Eventually, my father fell. Andradé forced him into the alley next to the restaurant and struck him with multiple blows to the head. My father attempted to defend himself by putting up his arms to block the machete, and received large gashes on his hand and forearm and losing his thumb. The right side of his face had been split open in 3 places. The back of his skull had been shattered leaving a gaping hole in the back of his head. Andradé immediately drove off in his green van when witnesses started to show up after hearing the screams from the women. My father’s actions bought enough time to save the life of the woman and her daughter. A witness arrived on the scene to catch the last machete blow and license plate on the green van while Andradé fled. The daughter explained how Andradé could not accept the facts that he didn’t “own” her mom anymore and that they weren’t dependent on him anymore.
My mother woke up around 4:00AM Monday morning ready for her commute and noticed my father didn’t come home. She called his cell phone and restaurant phone and started getting worried that he may have gotten into an accident on the way home. After several more attempts with no answer, she decided to drive to the restaurant and pulled up to the parking lot where there were local media camera crews and two security guards - but no sign of police cars. She received hints from a news reporter that a man named Elvis (my father’s nickname) was killed but she didn’t believe the reporter since nobody notified her. The police arrived on the scene after the security guard notified them. The police then called my sister, Jade to come to the scene. When Jade arrived, the police confirmed the story that my father was in fact killed trying to protect the ex-wife and daughter.
US Marshals arrested Andrade in Elkins, West Virginia on August 7, 2006, and brought him back to Texas to face murder charges.
On August 29, 2007, after a 3-day trial, a jury convicted Leon Lugo Andrade of murdering William Hsing Wei Huang with a deadly weapon. They sentenced him to life in prison. Andrade will be eligible for parole after having served 30 years (including time spent in jail awaiting the outcome of this case).