Dallas police say they have identified three suspects linked to the murder of Joshua Brown, the neighbor of Botham Jean who testified in the murder trial of former Dallas officer Amber Guyger.
One suspect is in custody, and two others are being sought on capital murder charges.
According to police, Joshua was murdered in a drug deal gone bad and it had nothing to do with this testimony against Amber Guyger.
HAPPENING NOW: Police say three suspects have been identified in the murder of Joshua Brown, a key witness in the Amber Guyger trial https://t.co/H9n7JKbYS7 pic.twitter.com/jIDSGp4JFJ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 8, 2019
via CBS:
Brown was a key prosecution witness in the trial of Guyger, who was convicted last week in the 2018 killing of her neighbor, Botham Jean. Brown lived across the hall from Jean and testified that he heard two people “meeting by surprise,” followed by two shots, the night Jean died.
Brown, 28, was shot to death at a separate apartment complex on Friday, just 10 days after taking the stand.
Dallas Police Assistant Chief Avery Moore said the three suspects had traveled from Louisiana to buy drugs from Brown, and one of the men shot Brown twice and killed him.
One of the suspects, 20-year-old Jacquerious Mitchell, was wounded and treated at a hospital. He’s expected to be charged with capital murder. Police are still searching for Thaddeous Charles Green, 22, and Michael Diaz Mitchell, 32, who they believe fled the state.
Jacquerious Mitchell told police it was Green who contacted Brown to buy the drugs, according to police. Mitchell said Green and Brown were talking when the conversation escalated into a physical confrontation. During the dispute, Brown shot Jacquerious Mitchell and Green shot Brown, killing him, according to Jacquerious Mitchell’s account. Mitchell said he was driven to a hospital before the other two suspects fled.
Dallas Police said “numerous tips” led them to search Brown’s apartment, where they confiscated 12 pounds of marijuana, 149 grams of THC cartridges and more than $4,000 in cash.
Brown was concerned for his safety and didn’t want to testify in the Guyger trial because he believed he had been targeted in a previous November 2018 shooting, according to his family lawyer, Lee Merritt. The shooting at a Dallas strip club last year left Brown wounded and killed Nicholas Shaquan Diggs, reports CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.
Brown was also expected to testify in an upcoming trial in Diggs’ death, the station reports.
Merritt told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth that the day Brown testified, someone posted on one of Brown’s social media accounts, “Now we know where to find you.” The post was later deleted.
Merritt and others have called for an outside agency to investigate Brown’s death. Dallas Police did not immediately respond to a request for a response from CBS News.
The prosecution’s star witness is all of a sudden a drug dealer and Dallas police didn’t attempt to use that in court to discredit his testimony? We’re not sure if we’re buying this narrative.
HAPPENING NOW: Police say three suspects have been identified in the murder of Joshua Brown, a key witness in the Amber Guyger trial https://t.co/H9n7JKbYS7 pic.twitter.com/jIDSGp4JFJ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 8, 2019
