Neighbors in the Heights say the Houston home where Christa Bauer Gilley was found dead last year has become the stage for a new drama: a stranger claiming he now owns the property has taped deed-style paperwork to the front window and allegedly changed the locks.
Family members told police they discovered new cameras mounted at the Allston Street home and a notice naming a man identified as Matthew Jackson and a company called Save A Life Homes LLC. That discovery triggered a visit from Houston police and kicked off yet another round of legal headaches for a family that is already buried in court trouble.
Property records show a deed dated May 8 that appears to transfer the more-than-1 million dollar Allston Street house to Jackson and Save A Life Homes LLC, according to KPRC Click2Houston. The outlet reports Houston police were called after Gilley’s relatives spotted the paperwork in the window and that officers spoke through a doorbell camera with a man who refused to step outside and insisted he owns the house. KPRC also reports that the same man has been linked to a separate southeast Houston trespassing case in which officers say he flashed questionable documents referencing Save A Life Homes LLC.
Attorney Lori Hood, who has handled multiple fraudulent-deed fights, told KPRC Click2Houston the papers posted in the window are “not legitimate” and look like “something somebody typed up and put in the window to scare the real owners off.” Hood said the filings appear to show an affidavit of adverse possession followed immediately by a warranty deed, a one-two punch she says would leave both documents legally invalid under Texas law. She warned this kind of move often targets homes left temporarily empty as families deal with tragedy and can force owners into long, pricey lawsuits just to clear the title.
A Repeat Pattern
Jackson is already known to Houston police, according to local reporting. Officers say he moved into a southeast Houston house weeks after a search warrant was served there and was later arrested on a trespassing charge after showing what investigators called fraudulent papers. That earlier case ended after Jackson completed community service and a decision-making course. Court records show he was out on bond in a separate April trespassing case when the Allston Street notice appeared. City and county records also show Jackson has been tangled in civil disputes involving other properties.
Where The Criminal Case Stands
The Allston Street property is still the center of a high-profile capital murder case. In October 2024, Christa Bauer Gilley was found dead inside the home, and her husband, Lee Gilley, was later charged in her killing, according to the Houston Chronicle. He fled to Italy earlier this year and is now in custody there while prosecutors seek to bring him back. Reporting in A&E Crime + Investigation details the extradition request and the complicated international legal steps that will decide whether he returns to face the charge in a Harris County courtroom.
For the Bauer family, the sudden ownership claim is one more legal twist they did not ask for. Even when a deed looks blatantly fraudulent, Hood said, families often have to file a civil lawsuit to clean up the title, a slow and expensive process. Authorities so far are treating the window posting as a civil dispute and have not charged anyone over the Allston Street claim, but the episode is raising fresh questions about how Houston protects vacant or crime-disturbed homes from becoming targets.
