Stray Bullet Kills Woman on New Year’s Day

HOUSTON (AP) – Authorities say a woman ringing in the new year was fatally shot by a stray bullet outside her Houston home. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said 61-year-old Philippa Ashford died after being shot at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. The sheriff’s department said it appears she may have been struck by celebratory gunfire from outside her immediate neighborhood. The agency said her family and neighbors were discharging fireworks in their cul-de-sac when she called out that she’d been shot. She was pronounced dead at the scene.