A Harris County Sheriff’s Office detention officer in Texas has been arrested and charged with capital murder, according to a Twitter post from the Houston Police Department.
HPD confirmed that 21-year-old Jarrell Tavon Wheeler was arrested Thursday in connection with the May 18 shooting death of 35-year-old Otis Parker Jr.
Wheeler is also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
His bonds were set at $250,000 on the capital murder charge and $100,000 on the other charge.
Wheeler was relieved of duty, according to HCSO.
HPD is still looking for three others who are also charged with capital murder: 21-year-old Jamal Brown, 21-year-old Quitiana Taylor, and 23-year-old Mariah Green.
The victim was found in the driver’s seat of a vehicle at an apartment complex in the 5900 block of Selinsky Road in southeast Houston. He was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound.
Police said the vehicle appeared to have been involved in a crash but a female passenger wasn’t hurt.
About a week later, HPD released photos of Brown and Taylor and identified them as “persons of interest” in the case. They released a photo of Taylor running barefoot.
This week, they released a similar photo of Green. It’s not clear if the photos were from the night of the shooting.
On June 27, all four suspects were charged with capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Police believe robbery was the motive.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Brown, Taylor or Green, or with other information on this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or speak anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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