Xavien Howard is a cornerback for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League (NFL). He was born on July 4, 1993. Howard, 30, was born and raised in Houston’s Fifth Ward. He went to Wheatley High School in the city and played football there with fellow NFL cornerback William Jackson III. He is committed to play college football at Baylor University.

Xavien Howard of the Miami Dolphins returns to Houston to face the Texans on Thursday night (8:20 ET, Fox). He intends to walk the streets of his old neighborhood this weekend. Howard, a native Houstonian, advises visitors to avoid the Fifth Ward. It’s a high-crime area northeast of downtown.

What happened to Xavien Howard’s sister Ashley Howard? 35-year prison sentence explain

Ashley, his older sister and childhood role model, is currently serving a 35-year jail sentence. “His sister is his heart,” Cornelius McFarland, Howard’s high school football coach, said. “I’m sure that irritated him. I know it still bothers him.”

Ashley Howard and two other women, Shiquanta Franklin and Racquel Gonzalez, agreed to steal 16 polo shirts from Macy’s in Deerbrook Mall in May 2013, according to court filings. Police pursued them at high speeds as they fled in a red Dodge.

According to court documents, Franklin, the driver, ran a red light, colliding with another vehicle and murdering Rosalva Quezada, the driver. Quezada was driving with her three sons, one of whom was seriously hurt in the accident. Gonzalez claims that Howard told Franklin to “keep going” rather than stop at the red light because “she had too much to lose.”