Man charged with murder for 2010 beating death of a Channelview man, HCSO says

CHANNELVIEW, Texas (KTRK) -- A man has been charged in connection with the 2010 beating death of a Channelview man, the Harris County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday.

The sheriff's office said Jerry Fain, who's already serving a life sentence for strangling his girlfriend in 2014, was charged in James Terry's murder on Monday.

Investigators say Terry was bludgeoned to death inside his Monmouth Street trailer on Oct. 5, 2010.

His daughter, Leona Terry, said her dad had previously had a disagreement with Fain, who she said she suspected from day one.

"This dude's a psychopath," Terry said.

At the time, Fain was already a convicted sex offender who'd been jailed for assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

"My dad didn't really know him, he just knew of him," Terry told Eyewitness News.

Fain is currently eligible for parole in 2044 for his girlfriend's murder, but Terry said she's hopeful he'll have a different fate if convicted of her father's murder.

"He is where he needs to be, and hopefully, you know, with this being added, we can possibly maybe go for a death penalty case. You never know," she said.

The sheriff's office said it had been eyeing Fain as a suspect since at least 2021 when it got a new lead. That same year, Leona Terry appeared on the podcast, "The Murder In My Family."

"I got a call from the detective that we had gotten the confession, and, sure enough, it was Jerry (expletive) Fain," she said.

Whatever detectives were working with then clearly wasn't enough to charge Fain until now. The sheriff's office said it began reviewing the case this year.

"I guess, you know, you got to dot your i's and cross your t's and, you know, I'm not on that side of the table so I don't know what they was doing, but I'm grateful it's happening now," Terry said.

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