Second arrest made in fatal Dallas carjacking, both face capital murder charge

DALLAS - Dallas Police have arrested a second man in connection with a deadly carjacking that happened in August in Northwest Dallas.

Arrests in Deadly Dallas Carjacking

The Latest:

Jeremiah Grice, 23, was arrested by the Dallas Police Department on Sept. 4, and charged with aggravated robbery and capital murder in connection with the case.

He is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $650,000 bond.

Rocky Mejia Jr, 22, was arrested on Aug. 21 and is charged with capital murder in connection with the case. He is also facing probation violation charges, an assault charge, and a charge from Garland. He is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a combined bond of $510,000.

The backstory:

According to the arrest affidavit, at 2:15 a.m. on the 18th, 34-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernandez Esparza was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of the Jones Creek Apartments in the 3200 block of Lombardy Lane in Dallas. Police say he was video chatting with his friend.

Police say the friend heard someone say "get out of the vehicle" in Spanish.

The friend then heard Hernandez Esparza say, "Wait, I live here," in Spanish. 

The friend told police she couldn't see him on video chat and believes the phone fell. She then heard a physical scuffle and a gunshot, and saw something reflective on the video chat screen. The video chat then ended.

The friend then called another person who lives at the apartment complex. That person went outside and saw Hernandez Esparza lying unconscious on the ground and called the police.

Dallas Police arrived at 3:31 a.m., according to the arrest affidavit.

Dallas Fire Rescue took Hernadez Esparza to the hospital, and he was pronounced dead at 5:48 a.m.

The investigation led police to find Hernandez Esparsa's vehicle on August 20, around 2 a.m. Police believe the vehicle was used in or connected to aggravated robbery offenses in Dallas and Plano. The license plate had been switched.

Detectives were able to use surveillance video and databases to connect the crime to Mejia. 

According to an arrest affidavit, investigators obtained surveillance video from across the street showing a silver Chevy Malibu sedan pulling up to Hernandez Esparza's parking lot.

Minutes later, the Malibu and the victim's Honda Civic drove off together.

Dallas police were able to link that Chevy Malibu to Mejia.

Police located the victim's Honda Civic abandoned, but it had a different license plate.

Then they learned it was connected to other aggravated robberies in both Dallas and Plano.

Dig deeper:

Mejia has a lengthy criminal history in Dallas County. The sheriff's office sent prior mugshots from the past 5 years. The arrests include aggravated robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest along with multiple probation violations. 

Also noted, according to jail records, he was likely out on bond when he was arrested.

He also had a charge from Garland for allegedly assaulting a family member.