Sad News Out Of Sam Houston State University

[3rd Coast Tiger]

Sad to hear this for the young lady and her family.


Sam Houston State Cheerleader Killed in murder-suicide

Huntsville police said a man shot and killed his former girlfriend, a cheerleader at Sam Houston State University who is from Houston.

Police said the roommates were home at the time.
Then Jake Taylor, 24, shot himself.

According to police, Taylor went to the apartment pre-nursing junior Rachel Pendray shared with her three sorority sisters Sunday night around 11:30.

Pendray's roommates told police she had tried to break up with Taylor, but he continued to pursue her, apparently to the point of obsession.

"He and the victim locked themselves in a room; there was no fighting, no loud noises," Huntsville police officer Gary Howze said. "Roomates said next thing they know there were four or five shots."

When police broke into the room, they found Pendray and Taylor dead.

Pendray, 20, had been shot several times. Taylor had a single self-inflicted wound.

Pendray was a 2004 graduate of Spring Woods High School, according to her sorority's homepage.


http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/M_IMAGE.10efcb6ba0a.93.88.fa.d0.5136bed1.jpg
Rachel Pendray

Taylor also attended the school and graduated in 2001.

Huntsville police said Taylor and Pendray had known each other since high school, but he was not a student at the university. He lived in Houston with his mother.

Apparently he was in Huntsville, visiting. Police said he had not been at the apartment complex earlier that day.

The women were members of Zeta Tau Alpha.

A vigil for Pendray will be held at the Lowman Student Center on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

[BlueHen86]

Very sad.

[catamount man]

: smh : : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh :

Here's what I don't get. I've broken up with girls before. Heck, I drove by one's house and the truck of another guy was parked in her driveway. I drove to the nearest pay phone, called her, and she hung up on me. Cried my eyes out, drank some whiskey, and then cleaned up, went out to a bar that night and proceeded to be a judge in a strip show. See, who says you can't get over them. Sad for the families of both.:nonono2:

GO CATAMOUNTS!!!

[chiapet9]

this made me want to throw up. i can't believe how disturbed some people are. and her ROOMMATES were there! oh man.

[TexasTerror]

Very tragic story indeed. This was a member of the All-Girl Cheer Squad that had just recently came about at SHSU and someone who was obviously very active on campus...

More on KatFans.com...

http://www.katfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3940
http://www.katfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3942

[kats89]

Sorry to all for posting bad happenings, but this hit the Bearkat family last night. Thoughts and prayers to this SHSU Cheerleader's family and friends. Tragic story......


Death of Student

Rachel Pendray, sophomore pre-nursing major from Houston, was shot to death at the Brook Place Apartments in Huntsville about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, according to reports from the office of the dean of students. The Huntsville Police Department is in charge of the investigation.

Pendray was shot 3-4 times by a man who then killed himself. Roommates said that the man was a non-student who was a friend and may have dated her a few times and had strong feelings for her that were not reciprocated. Her three roommates were in the apartment but the shooting happened behind closed doors and no one witnessed it.

Pendray was in the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, a cheerleader, and in the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship organization on campus, and worked at the Outback Steakhouse in Conroe. She was a graduate of Spring Woods High School in Houston.

A candlelight vigil service open to the university community is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom on campus.

Sam Houston State University deeply regrets this incident, and urges anyone who is experiencing stress in any situation to seek counseling. SHSU's university police are trained to contact counselors who are available at all times. The university police emergency number is 294-1000, and the counseling center number is 294.1720.

[BrevardMountaineer03]

I hate to hear that, God Bless Your Community....that's a sad tragedy.

[GRZZ]

You hate to hear about stuff like that. I guess it reminds us all that we are just talking about a game here and win or lose, it really doesn't matter that much. I hope everyone at SHSU is able to cope with this in their own way.

[VT Wildcat Fan53]

Oh, man. What a tragedy. Our thoughts go out to the Pendray family and the entire SHSU community. As GRZZ notes, it drives home the point that the games don't really matter when something like this happens,... could be anyone of our families, .....

[mainejeff]

Is it me, or has there been an increase in gun violence recently?.....especially with younger people.

[Sam_Kats]

Had some other alums call me at work today and tell me...VERY sad story!! I'm not a father yet, but I could not imagine what her family is going through...prayers go out to the family.

And, what a great feeling it is when other schools across the country send their condolences when something like this happens - makes you proud to be part of such a great country/society that looks after one another!!!

One thing is for sure...I'll hug my wife a little tighter thinking about this!!!

[mistersykes]

I wish things like this didn't happen. It really troubles me that they do (and so often at that), and I hope that the family and friends of the victim(s) are able to recover as best they can.

[TxSt02]

:bawling: thoughts and prayers... was just on the sidelines at sam a couple weeks back... im sure i saw her...


so very very sad...

this brings a tear to my eye...

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=28498383

[Seahawks Fan]

My condolences to the family. This is such a terrible tragedy. May Rachel rest in peace.

[Uncle Buck]

horrible, just horrible. That poor, poor girl and her family left to deal with this tragedy. My prayers go out to her family.

[hApPYaPpYFan]

Wow, I have a daughter the same age........just want to hug her right now. My heartfelt prayers and thoughts go out to her family and friends on this sad day.

[kats89]

Updated story from todays Houston Chronicle....

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4379423.html

[CSU Girl]

sorry for your loss. That is very sad.

[GtFllsGriz]

I am so sorry to hear that. I am a father of a daughter the same age and I cannot even imagine that sort of pain. It would be impossible to deal with that magnitude of pain without faith in the Lord.

God bless them and give them strength.

[CCU97]

I will say my own little prayer for her family I know what a tough time they must be going through right now. Losing a child, a friend, and a loved one can be very tragic. I hope the SHSU community will do something to remeber this young woman and the life she lived.

[BillLuc1982]

Thoughts and prayers go out to both families.

I saw that there's a candlelight vigil but it's students-only. I'm sure there are many non-students who appreciated Rachel!

[TexasTerror]

An FYI...

The Houstonian, student newspaper, has complete coverage today...

Articles include...
Remembering Rachel
SHSU student slain: Three weeks ago, Rachel Pendray saved Jake Taylor. On Sunday night, he killed her - and himself.
Pendray known for 'magnetic personality'
Campus stunned
Gunman's mother: failed dreams caused Taylor's depression

The Houstonian has really stepped it up a notch with their coverage of this unfortunate event on campus...

Click over to http://www.houstonianonline.com to read this on-campus coverage....

[AZGrizFan]

"He felt like he was a failure, that he had nothing to offer anyone," his mother said.

So then go take your OWN life, without committing murder in the process.

How sad. : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh : : smh :

[kats89]

Thanks to all from AGS land. This is definitely a tragic story and a sad time in Bearkat Nation. Thanks for all your prayers.:nod:

[bobcatfan06]

My thoughts and prayers go out to every Bearkat. I know we have our differences, but at a time like this we all realize it's just a stupid game.

RIP Rachel

God Bless the Pendray family.

[bobcatfan06]

All of this because he got kicked off the stupid HS baseball team? Sounds like his mother is as much to blame as him, she didn't seem to be helping him much with his depression. Sad day for both families.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

That's really a shame when things like this happen. To read what some of her friends are saying, browse her MySpace page (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=28498383). Many of them have left comments to Rachel.