By Associated Press - Tuesday, May 5, 2015

HOUSTON (AP) - Houston police have charged a man in the stabbing and beating death of a 79-year-old woman as she tended her garden.

Harris County jail records show 35-year-old Cavalas Prater was being held without bond Tuesday on a capital murder charge.

Su-Jung Teng was home, with her husband, last Wednesday when she began working in their garden.

Police say an unknown man entered the property and attacked her, using scissors and a golf club. Her husband tried to fight off the intruder, but Teng was dead at the scene.

Prater over the weekend was charged in an alleged assault on a relative. Police say Prater was wearing a shirt that matched the description of the suspect in the Teng killing.

Online jail records don’t list an attorney for Prater to comment.

Copyright © 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.