Nov 28, 2003  |  By: BINNIE FISHE  | COMMENTS     

HOUSTON — The fatal shooting of a gay lobbyist in Houston has shocked many of his friends who spent time with him on the night of his death at a fund-raiser for a lesbian politician.

Ross Allyn was killed at his home on Nov. 21, according to Houston Police Department officials.

The Harris County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Allyn’s death a homicide. The autopsy report, released on Monday, indicated that Allyn sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his neck.

Allyn, who had attended a fund-raiser for city controller candidate Annise Parker on Nov. 20, was found just inside the front door of his burning home a few hours later by firefighters, who were summoned around 4 a.m. on Nov. 21.

Neighbors reported hearing noises inside Allyn’s home about the time the fire started.

His friends stood stunned outside his burned home the afternoon after the fire. Fire investigators Roy Paul and Leo Gonzales talked with friends of the victim outside the house. They said little, but by the afternoon after the fire, they were aware that they were dealing with a homicide.

Parker, a lesbian and current city council member, said she learned about Allyn’s death soon after the fire was extinguished.

“At first we wondered if he had awakened, found the house on fire and tried to get out,” Parker said. “I got a phone call early on Friday morning, and at that time, I was told that homicide had been called in.”

Parker, a close friend of Allyn, said the news came as a tremendous shock.

“So many folks had seen him the night before at the fund-raiser,” she said.

Allyn attended the event with a friend. Sue Lovell, a lesbian who lost her bid for the City Council seat, said she talked with Allyn that evening.

“I walked him to the door,” she said. “I watched him walk out.” When she heard the news the next day, Lovell said she was devastated. “He had a good heart.”

Another friend, Nixon Wheat, said he spoke with Allyn by phone about 11 p.m. on Nov. 20, and that he seemed to be in good spirits.

“That was the last we heard of him,” said Wes Robbins, another friend who stood outside the charred house the afternoon after the fire.

An ‘effective’ lobbyist
Allyn was a lobbyist who fought City Hall for clients ranging from retail shops to low-income housing units. Most recently, he won a 10-year, $178 million retail contract for Paradies IAH-LLC at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

In 1997, Allyn, a former aide to City Council member Ben Reyes, was snared in an FBI sting involving allegations of bribing city officials that later sent Reyes and Houston Port Commissioner Betti Maldonado to prison. A judge later threw out the charges against Allyn.

“He was a very effective lobbyist,” Parker said. “You could tell him, ‘no,’ and he would keep coming back. He was very persistent, and he never took it personally.”

The way in which Allyn was killed has left friends wondering what happened inside his home.

“Right now, I’m at a loss to think of the scenario,” Wheat said. He wondered about what he calls “a new class of con artists” who Wheat said have begun preying on affluent gay men in the last few years.

He said these con artists are straight men who pose as gays. “They use their physical beauty to get into the lives of wealthy gay men. To me, it’s on the level of a hate crime,” he said.

Houston Police Department homicide investigators called on local gay citizens to help in their investigation.

Police officials said five investigators are assigned to the Allyn case.

A memorial service for Allyn was conducted Nov. 25.

He is survived by a brother, Mark Allyn and wife, Dorothy, of Dallas; sister, Mary Lynn Miller of Philadelphia, Pa.; another brother, Danny Allyn of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and several nieces and nephews.