Tyra Shantel Valentine, on the right, Diamond Unique Roach, in the center, and Alexander Dudley Morrison, on the left, appear in mugshots after being charged in connection with a still-mysterious fatal shooting in June in Marshall, Tex. (Harrison County)
Five people have been arrested in connection with a callous series of events that happened in the moments after a child was shot dead on the street in east Texas earlier this summer.
The case was, however, immediately of note to law enforcement in Marshall, the Lone Star State’s self-proclaimed version of “Athens,” and a half-hour drive to the Louisiana border, for what didn’t happen.
“Investigation showed that the young man had been lying in the street long enough for at least two cars to drive past, yet they did not call police,” a Marshall Police Department spokesperson told Jacksonville-based NBC affiliate KETK on the morning the boy’s body was found.
On June 7, around 1:30 a.m., emergency services received calls about a person lying on Alexander Street. Officers arrived to find the deceased teenage boy with a lone gunshot wound to the chest.
In fact, the 16-year-old’s body was in the street for roughly hours before anyone bothered to call the police. But, law enforcement now alleges, there was a lot that happened in connection with the body before officers were made aware of the fatal shooting.
On Wednesday, police announced that five people had been arrested in connection with the death – three adults and two minors.
“Investigation showed that the young male had been lying in the street for over an hour and a half before authorities were notified,” the MPD said in a statement obtained by the Marshall News Messenger. “During that time, vehicles drove around the body and some individuals took photos and video recordings of the body.”
Tyra Valentine, 24, Diamond Roach, 32, and Alexander Morrison, 50, all of whom hail from Marshall, stand accused of tampering with evidence – failure to report human remains, according to Harrison County court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
Police have identified those three defendants as the adults charged in connection with the shooting on Alexander Street.
The two minors, whose names are not being released, have been charged with felony counts of organized criminal activity for robbery. The adults were charged with misdemeanor offenses.
Valentine has previously been charged with misdemeanors and felony offenses. Roach has been accused of various misdemeanors in Harrison County in the past. Morrison has not been charged with a crime prior to this incident in the area; he is currently the only one of the three with a court date pending, court records show.
Morrison is slated to appear for his arraignment on Sept. 12.
Police say the investigation into the shooting is ongoing and have promised to release additional information in the future.
The MPD is currently in the process of fulfilling a records request filed in this case by Law&Crime, a spokesperson said.
Due to his age, identifying information about the victim has not yet been released by law enforcement.
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