People are asking what happened to veteran Melanie Lawson after the news anchor returned to ABC13 News in Houston, Texas, after being off the air for more than a year. Melanie returned to KTRK on June 26, 2025.
Melanie began with the news station over 40 years ago as a full-time general assignment reporter for ABC 13 News Live at 5. She also anchored the news channel’s midday show as well as Eyewitness News at 11 a.m., and viewers who were used to seeing Melanie so often wondered what happened to the news anchor.
What Happened to Melanie Lawson?
Melanie Lawson was off the air at Houston’s Channel 13 News following the death of her father, Reverend William A. Lawson, on May 14, 2024. Reverand Lawson was 95 and was known as “Houston’s Pastor.” The reverend was also the founder of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston and a Civil Rights leader known for non-violent protests. He was a student at Texas Southern University when Rosa Parks ignited the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery, Ala.
After students at TSU were arrested during a sit-in at a Weingarten’s grocery store, he led the efforts to have them released, along with his wife, Audrey. The couple went on to work with Martin Luther King, Jr., Sidney Poitier, and Harry Belafonte during the movement…