Trackdown Arrest: Suspect in 2022 shooting of bystander charged in 2 North Texas murders

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Shannon Steele

DALLAS - A man FOX 4 featured in a June 2022 Trackdown segment has been arrested and charged for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of a bystander.

While booked in the Dallas County Jail, the suspect was also charged with capital murder for an unrelated shooting in November 2024. 

Trackdown Suspect Charged with Murder

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trackdown: Help find Vernon Rivers' killer

Dallas police looking for a group of men involved in a shootout in the parking lot of a sports bar. An innocent bystander was shot and killed.

What we know:

Shannon Steele, 20, was arrested and booked into the Dallas County Jail on Dec. 16, 2024, on suspicion of murdering Vernon Rivers, a bystander outside of CJ's Billiards and Sports Bar in June of 2022.

Vernon Rivers

FOX 4 featured Rivers' shooting death in a June 16, 2022, Trackdown segment, urging the public to help police find Steele, who had not been identified at the time. Police had released surveillance from the June 4 scene, where suspects fired guns near a crowd of people outside the bar following an argument.

Steele is believed to have fired the fatal .40 caliber bullet while riding as a passenger in a fleeing Nissan Altima, according to an arrest warrant affidavit FOX 4 obtained on Thursday. The document was signed for Steele's arrest on Aug. 18, 2022; more than two years before his capture. 

The affidavit states that four others were also involved in the shooting. Steele is believed to have gotten into the Altima with two of the men to leave the scene, when another fired a gun into the air. The two groups then traded gunfire from the parking lot and the Altima, the affidavit says, resulting in Rivers, who police describe as an "innocent bystander," being shot in the head by Steele's stray bullet. 

After the Trackdown segment aired, police received multiple tips identifying the men involved.

Shannon Steele Charged in Slaughter Street Shooting

Additional Charge:

While booked in the Dallas County Jail in connection with Rivers' death, Steele was given a charge of capital murder. Jail records indicate that this charge is related to a Nov. 23, 2024, shooting at an apartment complex in the 600 block of Slaughter Street in Arlington. 

Arlington police responded to the Slaughter Street incident to find two victims, aged 18 and 19, both shot multiple times in the living room of an apartment. Witnesses told police that a group of people had fled the apartment, but no suspects were named following the incident.

Thursday, police confirmed that three other men were charged with capital murder in the shooting: Chrisaveon Whitted, 18; Eddie Walker Jr., 19; and Demarian Owens, 21. 

The Bonds:

Steele is currently being held on eight separate charges in the Dallas County Jail. His bond for the 2022 shooting is $500,000, along with a $1 million bond for the 2024 capital murder charge. 

In all, Steele is being held on $2,150,000 in bonds for his numerous alleged crimes.

What we don't know:

None of the additional suspects named in Steele's 2022 arrest warrant affidavit have bookings in the Dallas County Jail.