He Jumped From a Car, Then Vanished. Is There a Serial Killer in Houston? | Kenneth Cutting Jr.

**Ron Trevino** (0:00)
Houston, the Bayou City. We have about 2,500 miles of waterways.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:05)
Their report going back nearly a decade shows more than 200 bodies recovered.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:09)
I don't know if there's a serial killer, but the way they're dealing with these bodies is ridiculous.

**Matt Doherty** (0:15)
Today, the Houston Police Department told me the case is closed.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:18)
But his family believes there's more to the story.

**Annie Elise** (0:24)
Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialously.
Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialously with me, your host, Annie Elise, and we have another case that we need to dive into together today Because. this one is so wild. It has like the question mark of, is a serial killer involved in this? Someone literally jumped out of a car. Like there are a lot of different details that I feel like, OK, I just need to get on the mic. I need to talk with you guys. We need to break this down together. And I really am going to ask you a favor ahead of time. Please give me your feedback in the comment section about what you think regarding this case and what you think like the truth is, the motive, all of the things. Because I'm a little bit just kind of like, not stumped, but like still, is that really it? Is it what I think it is? All of those questions that start entering your mind. And we talked directly with one of the family members who was heavily involved in this case. And I'm going to share pieces of that interview with you in today's episode because there are a lot of questions here. So let me just jump right in so that I can give you the backstory here.
It took place not very long ago, two years ago, in June of 2024 It was Friday, June 28th, in the city of Houston, Texas. Now, they were all ready to take on the weekend. And as I'm sure you know or can imagine if you've never been there, June in Texas, it gets pretty hot. So while everybody was so excited for the weekend, they also wanted to like duck into little bars and businesses to get some AC, cool off, and just like relax. So that meant that the downtown bar scene was going to be absolutely buzzing that night, not just that night, but that weekend. Now, if you've never been to Houston, downtown is a lot of fun. I want you to think tons of bars, tons of restaurants, tourists in town, hotels, really great happy hour spots, tons of places to then go after dinner and like keep the party going, get a nightcap, and a lot of that is centered just a few blocks away from the Toyota Center, which is along this long stretch of road called Fannin Street. By the time nighttime rolled around that Friday, Fannin Street was already getting super busy. People were heading from one place to the next, friends were meeting up, people were bar hopping, Ubers were all lining up to shuffle everyone around from one place to the next. Basically, it was your typical Friday night. Now, Fannin Street was home to a popular place called Pete's Dueling Piano Bar.
This is tucked inside the Green Street Complex, this downtown shopping and entertainment hub. It's kind of like a mall, but strip mall-y a little bit too, but not really where it has all different types of businesses inside. Now, inside Pete's, it was very, very loud, but not in a dark, clubby way. It was bright and packed with people, people full of energy, people singing, happy, good mood. If you've ever been to a piano bar or a dueling piano bar, you totally get the vibe. But if you haven't been to one, let me just describe it. It's basically two pianists on stage playing back and forth, taking requests from the audience, cracking jokes in between, just very high energy. A song whenever I've gone to piano bars in the past, it's like Journey, Don't Stop Believing. That one is a request, a fan favorite. Songs where people are all singing along like Sweet Caroline, and like, Sweet Caroline, bup, bup, bup. You know what I'm talking about? And so it's just like good energy and a great time. And it's not just a place that you go to, to listen to music. It's almost a place where you kind of become part of the show in a weird way because everybody's participating. So Pete's was a super popular place to go, to just hang out, to celebrate a birthday, maybe even a bachelorette party. And on Friday nights, it all was filled up super fast. Now, one of the people who was there that night was 22-year-old Kenneth Cutting Jr. Kenneth was known as someone who was extremely creative, expressive, and just full of life. Kenneth's family said that his creativity was undeniable from very early on in his life. He loved to draw. He was so talented, so much so that he earned a scholarship to the Glassell School of Art in Houston at a very young age. He always found a way to share his art too.