New details revealed in North Richland Hills homicide
North Richland Hills shooting and crash (Source: Terry Van Sickle)
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas - The arrest affidavits for the three suspects arrested in connection with the deadly North Richland Hills shooting on April 29 reveal new information about what may have happened.
The suspects in the case have been identified as 17-year-old Ziquarius Taveon Burnette, of North Richland Hills, 18-year-old Oscar Macias, of Haltom City, and 17-year-old Zackary Daniel Garza of North Richland Hills. A juvenile was also arrested, but his name and charges have not been released.
Deadly North Richland Hills Shooting
North Richland Hills police were dispatched to a shots-fired call in the 8300 block of Emerald Hills Parkway, at an apartment complex, on April 29 at around 10:30 p.m. The initial report was that three shots were fired and a car crashed.
Suspects arrested in connection to homicide at 8400 block of Emerald Hills Way. (Source: Tarrant County Jail)
New Information:
The first officer on the scene found a man on the driver's side of a black Honda slumped over the steering wheel with a faint pulse. He was later identified as 17-year-old Alvin Ray Sweet, of Watauga.
The officer saw Sweet was shot in the back of his left calf. Emergency responders began life-saving measures and found another gunshot wound on his left torso. He was taken to the hospital where he died.
Another officer arrived on the scene and found a second gunshot victim. The female was a food delivery driver and was on a delivery, walking back to her car, when she was hit by a stray bullet in her shoulder. She was taken to the hospital where she was treated and released.
Investigators believe Sweet was in the adjacent park, Walker's Creek Park, when he was shot and drove across a creek bed before crashing into a parked car.
Investigators found eight shell casings that appeared to be related to the shooting. Investigators say there was more than one shooter because shell casings from a .22 caliber, a 9mm, and a .223 were found.
4 arrested in North Richland Hills homicide, victim identified
Four people have been arrested in connection to a shooting that killed one person and injured another on April 29, according to the North Richland Hills Police Department.
According to the arrest affidavits for the suspects, the victim's girlfriend told police Sweet was a drug dealer and texted her just after 10 p.m. that he was leaving to "go do some," which she said meant he was going to meet a client.
She told police she and Sweet shared their locations with each other, and the data showed he arrived at the park at 10:24 p.m. The shooting started two minutes later, and 16 seconds after that, his vehicle crashed into a parked car, according to surveillance video from near the scene.
The arrest affidavit shows investigators found the suspects in the case from text messages on the victim's phone.
According to the arrest affidavit, Burnett said the plan was to steal the disposable vape pens Sweet brought to sell, but not to shoot anyone.
He told police after the shooting, they watched Sweet drive across the creek bed and crash into the parked car. The group then rode their bicycles back to a garage and stayed there until someone came to pick them up.
All three have been charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They are all booked into the Tarrant County Jail where they are each being held on a bond of $2.5 million.
The Source: Information in this article is from the North Richland Hills Police Department and arrest affidavits for three of the suspects arrested in the case.