The Justice Journal: Vol. 57 (English)

The Justice Journal: Vol. 57

A look at cases recently prosecuted by the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney's Office.

State vs. Marbel Garcia Catalan

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child

Lead: Janie Martinez

2nd Chair: Delayna Griffin

DA Investigator: Tom McGrath

DA Victim Advocate: Flor De La Fuente

The defendant was found guilty of continuously sexually abusing a child under the age of 14. The jury heard from an additional victim.

GUILTY and sentenced to LIFE in prison.

State vs. Miguel Rodriguez

Sexual Assault of a Child

Lead: Kalle Riner

2nd Chair: Jennifer Sawyer

DA Investigator: Laura Brakefield

DA Victim Advocate: Leslie Gutierrez

Special thanks to Investigators Garrick Whaley, Natarsha Price and Howard Sparks

The defendant was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child. The defendant had previously been convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in 1995 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison for that case.

GUILTY and sentenced to LIFE in prison.

State vs. Serratos Andrade

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child

Lead: Joel Abraham

2nd Chair: Ann Duffy

DA Investigator: Barry Maxwell

DA Victim Advocate: Franchesca Zarate

The defendant was found guilty of continuously sexually abusing a child under the age of 14.

GUILTY and sentenced to LIFE in prison.

State vs. Marvin Hernandez

Aggravated Kidnapping

Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Lead: Krystal Biggins

2nd Chair: Loren Collins

DA Investigator: Jesse Resendez & Juan Carranza

DA Paralegal: Ayleanna Westbrooks

Investigating Agency: Garland Police Department

On November 17, 2022, the defendant and eight of his co-defendants, who are members of the notorious transnational criminal street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) lured the victim to a park in Grand Prairie under false pretenses. At this park, the defendant and three of the other co-defendants physically pulled the victim out of the vehicle at gunpoint and put him in another vehicle that belonged to the defendant. The victim, in this case, was a previous member of MS13 who was attempting to disassociate himself from the gang, however, the gang would not allow him to leave and therefore there was an order to kill him.

The defendants drove the victim from the park in Grand Prairie out to Woodland Basin Nature Preserve located in Garland, Texas, where three other co-defendants were already positioned to act as lookouts for any police or civilians. Once at the park, the defendants strategized how to exit the car. The defendant grabbed the victim as he was getting out of the car and told the victim, “Don’t do anything stupid or I will shoot you.” The victim was able to escape by pulling his arms out of the jacket he was wearing and taking off running. The defendant fired at least five shots at the victim striking him in the right and left side of his shoulder, barely missing his spine. A good Samaritan saw the victim running and stopped her vehicle and called the police. Police responded and were able to get the victim to the hospital. Through the efforts of the Garland and Irving Police Departments, they were able to identify all the individuals involved.  

GUILTY and sentenced to 70 years in prison on the Aggravated Kidnapping & 20 years on the Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

State vs. Kevin Sheffield

Murder x 2

Lead: Jonathan Grant

DA Investigator: Juan Carranza

DA Legal Assistant: Regina Taylor

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

On April 12, 2022, at 5:30 AM the victim, Mohammed Kamara, was shot one time in the head in his apartment complex's parking lot. Kamara was killed right next to his vehicle and had all his personal belongings on him when his body was found. Kamara's body was discovered by a passerby at 7:30 AM.

On May 17, 2022, at 1:42 the victim, Joseph Syas, was walking home from Quicktrip when he was shot five times from the back from a moving vehicle.  The vehicle was spotted driving north on Eastridge Dr, and then east on Park Lane. The vehicle then u-turned and drove south on Eastridge, towards the victim. The defendant then shot at the victim nine times, striking him five times. The vehicle then u-turned again and drove North on Eastridge, leaving the scene. Syas had all his personal belongings on him when his body was found. Syas's body was discovered by a passerby at 4:51 AM.

An apartment complex had video footage of the vehicle driving on Eastridge Dr and Park Lane; however, the shooting itself was not captured on video. Additionally, the vehicle's license plate could not be identified through the videos. The Dallas Police Department was able to identify the vehicle as a 2008 to 2012 Chevrolet Malibu and the vehicle had a distinctive head-light pattern. Using license plate readers, Dallas Police discovered that the defendant had access to a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu that shared the same head-light pattern as the suspect vehicle.

On May 26, 2022, the defendant was arrested in his vehicle and firearms ammunition was found in the vehicle. The defendant’s apartment was searched and a 9mm pistol was located. Analysis by Dallas Police and the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences indicated that the firearm belonged to the defendant and the recovered gun was responsible for the murders of Joseph Syas and Mohammed Kamara.

The Defendant waived his right to appeal and pled guilty to 50 years in prison.

GUILTY plea and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Waived the right to appeal.

State vs. Jerrell Mays

Aggravated Robbery

Lead: Loren Collins

2nd Chair: Krystal Biggins

DA Investigator: Juan Carranza

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police, Mesquite Police, Garland Police, Richardson Police & FBI

Special Thanks to Chris Cec for creating effective visual aids mapping out each offense

From October 18 – November 15, 2022, Jerrell Mays committed 15 aggravated robberies in Dallas County across four different cities. In each offense. The defendant used a gun to menace convenience stores, brandishing or sometimes firing the gun in order to steal cash. Even thought was only 18 at the time of the offenses, the defendant was deliberate and calculated in the way he committed the robberies – he wore masks and clothes which he switched out after a few days, he used different vehicles and different firearms and he struck different areas of the county. The defendant also targeted convenience stores near major roads and highways.

On November 15, 2022, the defendant robbed a Mobil Gas Station on Ferguson Road in Dallas. During the robbery the defendant, wearing a mask and a distinctive colorful jacket, pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded the cash from the register. Thinking quickly, the clerk slammed the register shut and dove behind the bullet proof gas next to the register. The defendant tracked the clerk’s movements and fired the gun at the clerk; the bullet ricocheted off the counter next to the register and slammed into the wall behind the clerk. The defendant ran from the scene. Police arrived and found surveillance video showing the suspect running from the scene, indicating that he may have a safe house close by.

At the time of the robbery, DPD Intelligence Officers were actively monitoring the defendant’s social media and saw he was wearing the distinctive jacket hours before the shooting. They also found a known address for him on the same city block as the Mobile Gas Station. The lead detective obtained a search warrant for the address where they found the defendant inside as well as the distinctive jacket and several guns.

During the punishment hearing, a sergeant from Jefferson Parish Louisiana testified that the defendant had committed six aggravated robberies in the suburbs of New Orleans. Those cases were pending at the time of the Dallas robberies. Additionally, an FBI Task Force Detective testified that while in custody the defendant organized an attempted bank robbery.

GUILTY and sentenced to 47 years in prison.

State vs. Ardwyn Jones

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child

Lead: Conner Sheets

2nd Chair: Brenna Buchanan

DA Investigator: Walter Clifton Jr., Crystal Gregan, Joseph Mundy, Ed Gibson, Laura Brakefield

DA Victim Advocate: Flor De La Fuente & Yvonne Macias

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

The defendant was found guilty of continuously sexually abusing a child under the age of 14. The defendant called his fiancée and dictated her testimony to her on a recorded jail call that was played for the jury, who correctly discounted her testimony.

GUILTY and sentenced to 45 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

State vs. Aries Jones

Murder

Lead: Stephanie Fargo

2nd Chair: Dimitri Anagnostis

DA Investigator: Darren Hodge

DA Victim Advocates/Assistance: Valerie Obregon, Christi Noebel, Irene Duong, Christopher Cec, Tamika Coy

Investigating Agency: Dallas police Department

The victim was shot outside the OT Tavern on March 18, 2022, around 2am. After leaving Bar 3606, the defendant took a swing at one of the victim’s friends in the street at Greenville Avenue & Martel. The fight was chaotic, several people joined in including all of the defendant’s group as well as the victim’s group. Eventually the fight ended and everyone walked away.

The defendants piled into a waiting Uber parked at Greenville & Martel. 49 seconds after the fight was over, as the victim and his friends were walking back to their car, the Uber drove up Martel Ave. and two people fired a gun from the SUV at the victim and his friends. One of the 13 shots hit the victim in the head, and he later died from his injuries.

One name came out early in the investigation, a Kelvin Joseph, at the time a Dallas Cowboy football player. Later the detective released footage of the offense to the media and then information started coming in as to who all was with Kelvin Joseph at the time of the shooting. Then two people, Aries Jones & Tivione English, turned themselves in and gave voluntary statements admitting to the shooting but claiming self-defense.

GUILTY and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

State vs. Lewellyn Brigham

Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child

Lead: Michelle Shughart

2nd Chair: Kathryn Suggs

DA Investigator: Tomicka McCloud with assists from Laura Brakefield, Ed Gibson and Tom McGrath

Investigating Agency: Grand Prairie Police Department 

The defendant was found guilty of continuously sexually abusing a child under the age of 14.

GUILTY and sentenced to 29 years in prison.

State vs. Jordy Estrada

Murder

Lead: Stephen Duplantis

2nd Chair: James Worley

DA Investigator: Derek Bryant

DA Paralegal: Kim Barr

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

The defendant invited his best friend to come over and sleep with his wife. Turns out, he didn’t enjoy it as much as he thought he would. He became enraged and threw his wife out of the house. The defendant then grabbed his gun and chased after her only to discover his friend (the victim) was still in the parking lot waiting on a number. The defendant shot the victim once in the back of the head.

At trial, the defendant employed the unusual tactic of claiming that it was both an accident and self-defense. The jury disagreed.

At punishment, he claimed that it was accidental self-defense done with sudden passion. The jury once again disagreed.

GUILTY and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

State vs. Wilson Castro Aguilar

Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child

Lead: Aryanna Bradford

2nd Chair: Kalle Riner

DA Investigator: Raphael Vela

DA Victim Advocate: Franchesca Zarate

The defendant was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

GUILTY and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

State vs. Julio Ramirez

Murder

Lead: Emily Antram

2nd Chair: Abby Parmelly

DA Investigator: Claudia Mena-Marroquin

DA Paralegal: Andretta Lewis

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

On August 21, 2022, the victim went to dinner and Tigers Cabaret with his two friends – the defendant and the defendant’s cousin. While at the club, the defendant’s cousin was kicked out. The three drove back home and were walking down the street having an argument when the defendant believed the victim, who was unarmed, was going to hurt his cousin. In response, the defendant shot the victim two times in the head. The moments right before the shooting were captured on a Ring doorbell camera, but the parties walk out of view at the time of the first shot. The defendant and his cousin ran from the scene, leaving the victim in a crosswalk to be found by a passerby.

The defendant had no criminal history.

GUILTY and sentenced to 20 years in prison and waived the right to appeal.

State vs. Jacoby Tatum

Aggravated Robbery

Lead: Summer Elmazi

2nd Chair: Brenna Buchanan

DA Investigator: Ric Bruner

DA Victim Advocate: Melinda Shelton

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

On November 11, 2021, from 4:15 pm until 7:45 pm, Camron Range, James Levels, Janiya Miller and Jacoby Tatum went on a crime spree through the city of Dallas. This started at South Oak Cliff High School (SOC) when two 14-year-old students left campus. The defendants, who were traveling in a stolen truck, waited for the girls to cross the street at which point, Janiya Miller held them up at gunpoint. Miller demanded their cellphones and a necklace and threated to shoot the girls if they did not do what Miller said.

The defendants then traveled to North Park Mall where the four were seen on surveillance video. Meanwhile one of the victims from the SOC Aggravated Robbery began to track her cell phone through the Find My iPhone app.  She traveled with her parents to North Park Mall and found an off-duty Dallas PD officer.  The officer began providing patrol contemporaneous location details of the victim's device.  

At 6:20 pm, the defendants, Camron Range, James Levels, and Jacoby Tatum, left the mall and followed a third victim to the Macy's Department parking garage. Once the victim got inside her vehicle, Range approached the driver's side with a gun and demanded the victim give over her phone and wallet.  He threatened he would shoot and kill her if she did not comply. The victim struggled with Range to keep the driver's side door closed.  It was at this point that Levels and Tatum bum-rushed the driver's side door and worked with Range to pull the victim out of her vehicle. The victim screamed and the three defendants ran to the stolen truck that Miller was driving. This was captured on surveillance video.

Miller then drove her codefendants to the CostCo Business Center.  At 6:45 pm, while the fourth victim is putting grocery items in the back of his SUV, the defendants drive past the victim in the parking lot.  Miller turned the truck around and stopped at the victim's vehicle. Range and Levels exited the truck and held victim  at gunpoint. The victim struggled with the defendants and Range shot and killed the victim.

The defendants left the scene and drove to north Dallas, where they abandoned the stolen truck in an apartment complex. The officer at North Park continued to track the cell phone and called out location details at CostCo and ultimately, the apartment complex.  The defendants were found in the area of the abandoned truck and were later taken into custody. 

Range pleaded guilty to the Murder at CostCo and the Aggravated Robbery at North Park and received a 60 year and 30 year sentence, respectively.

Levels  pleaded guilty to the Murder at CostCo and the Aggravated Robbery at North Park and received a 40 year and 25 year sentence, respectively.

Miller pleaded guilty to the Murder at CostCo and the Aggravated Robberies at SOC HS and received a 35 year and 25 year sentence, respectively.

Tatum went to jury trial on the  Aggravated Robbery at North Park and he was convicted, where he received a probation sentence.

State vs. Quentin Allen

Aggravated Robbery

Lead: Samantha Jarvis

2nd Chair: Heather Ragsdale

DA Investigator: Reggie Woods & Michael Csaszar

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

Stranger on Stranger Aggravated Robbery. The defendant saw the victim in the Sprinkles Parking Lot and followed him home and robbed the victim of his $50K Rolex in his driveway using a firearm.

The defendant was caught because the victim’s neighborhood installed Flock Cameras and caught him following the victim into the neighborhood. The defendant had rented a car in his name and the car had a GPS tracker in it (the defendant was unaware of the tracker installed by the rental car company).

Detective Lumbley with the Dallas Police Department was able track the rental car and retrieve surveillance video from those locations. The defendant was caught on surveillance video at a storage unit (in his mother’s name) holding what appeared to be the victim’s Rolex walking toward his specific unit. The defendant was also caught on camera at the Motel 6 with what appeared to be a firearm (neither the watch nor firearm was recovered). The defendant’s cell phone also put him at the crime scene and at the Sprinkles.

The defendant had no criminal history and was probation-eligible. Jury sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Huge shout out to Detective Lumbley for an excellent investigation, and Investigator Woods and Csaszar for stepping up and assisting during in trial.

GUILTY and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

State vs. Hubert Warren

Murder

Lead: Erik Lisowski

2nd Chair: Katherine Mitchell

DA Investigator: Eddie Lopez

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

Special Thanks to Inv. Garrick Whaley, ADA Ann Duffy

On May 22, 2021, the defendant stabbed the victim in the heart. The victim was able to fire back and shoot the defendant. The victim died from the stabbing, and the defendant called Dallas Police. He was arrested and charged with murder.

GUILTY on Manslaughter and sentenced to 11.5 years in prison.

State vs. Winston Gonzalez Marroquin

Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child

Lead: Connor Sheets

2nd Chair: Kristen vanBolden

DA Investigators: Walton Clifton Jr. & Crystal Gregan

DA Victim Advocate: Flor De La Fuenta

Investigating Agency: Carrollton Police Department

The defendant was found guilty of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.

GUILTY and sentenced to 10.5 years in prison.

State vs. Roberto Cisneros

Intoxication Manslaughter

Accident Involving Death

Lead: Andrew James

2nd Chair: Priscilla Pelli & Kristin Treager

DA Investigators: Ron Cathcart & Bill Martinez

DA Paralegal: Maria Cantrell

DA Victim Advocate: Sandra Walker

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

Around 2:30 am on Sunday April 23, 2017, while going nearly double the speed limit, the defendant ran a red light at Mahanna and Lemmon t-boning the vehicle of Tommy Gaines and killing him. As good Samaritans, EMS, Firefighters and police arrived, the defendant tried fading into the background, walking away -- on a broken leg—about 100 yards to the parking lot of a gas station down the street. He was eventually identified by Dallas Police and admitted to driving and to have been drinking at a bar in Uptown. He refused to be transported by EMS, refused to do any Standard Field Sobriety Tests, and refused to give a blood specimen. Dallas police obtained a warrant and his Blood Alcohol Content was double the legal limit 2.5 hours after the crash.

The defendant had no prior criminal history and zero bond violations over 7.5 years while awaiting trial. He was also unwilling to plea to any prison time. The Vehicular Crimes Unit took this case over when the unit was created in 2022.

The defense asked for probation and the State argued for a sentence of at least 10 years. The jury deliberated for about 30 minutes before returning wit ha sentence of 10 years in prison. The family was very happy with the result and extremely grateful to the office for not giving in and holding the accountable after all these years.

GUILTY and sentenced 10 years in prison.

State vs. Darrion Whiten

Manufacture of Delivery of a Controlled Substance >=200G <400G

Lead: Michael Chang

2nd Chair: Clint Stiffler

DA Investigator: Bonita Morgan & Tom Naulty

Investigating Agency: DeSoto Police Department

The defendant was intoxicated and wrecked his car in the left lane on I35 Southbound in DeSoto. Multiple witnesses saw the defendant leaving the accident and gave a description. Officers found the defendant within 20 minutes at a gas station down the ramp. The car was inventoried and towed, and half a pound of cocaine packaged into 1 ounce distribution bags was found on the driver’s side floorboard.

GUILTY and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

State vs. Robert Ybarra

Theft of Property >=$30K<$150K

Lead: Amber Moore

2nd Chair: Steve Fawcett

DA Investigator: Alex Lipsey

DA Financial Analyst: DeAnna Debenport

The victim, a retired and disabled veteran, hired the defendant to work as a general contractor on a home improvement project. The defendant started the project, but then kept requesting money without finishing the job. Specifically, he requested tens of thousands of dollars for lumber, windows, roofing and other building materials, but then failed to provide the materials, receipts for the purchases, or to refund the money.

The jury heard from another victim who also lost tens of thousands of dollars to the defendant in a similar scheme. They also heard from DA Financial Analyst DeAnna Debenport who summarized the bank records to show the defendant used the money primarily for personal usage and not business expenditures.

Ultimately, the jury determined that the defendant’s intent was to defraud his victim of money via deception.

GUILTY and sentenced to 10 years in prison, probated for 5 years, 60 days in jail as condition of probation and ordered to pay $70,500 in restitution.

State vs. Alex Mungai

Burglary of a Habitation intend. Sex Offense

Lead: Klarissa Diaz

2nd Chair: Tristin DerMargosian

DA Investigator: Abigail Cruz

DA Victim Advocate: Adriana Sellers

Investigating Agency: Dallas Police Department

On July 30, 2022, the victim went out to the bar Bottled Blonde with some girlfriends. As she was leaving the bar she walked around the corner to call an Uber. The defendant, an unknown individual to her, approached and offered to call her an Uber. After politely declining multiple times, he began to swat her phone away and told her he was calling her an Uber. An “Uber” approached, and the victim got in. While en route to her home, she noticed the driver and defendant being very friendly toward each other as if they were friends. In fact, the defendant was banned from Uber and the driver was his friend with whom he had gone out with. Upon arrival at her home, she got out of the vehicle and the defendant followed despite her protests. He followed her through the side gate leading toward the backyard, she attempted to hold the gate closed but he forced his way through. Caught on Ring camera, the defendant followed the victim toward the back entrance to the house as she ran away from him. The defendant was able to force his way into the home and attempted to sexually assault the victim. She was able to get the defendant out, locked the door, and ran to call her friend. She believed the defendant was gone by the time she got out of the shower. Her friend was close to arriving and asked that she unlock the door for her. Once the door was unlocked, the defendant reemerged, entered the home, and sexually assaulted her. Thankfully, her friend had called 911 and police arrived within minutes and attempted to kick down the door as they heard her screaming for help. Officers observed the defendant running out the back door with his pants down.

GUILTY and sentenced to 10 years in prison probated for 10 years + a $10,000 fine.