Arrest warrants issued in Joshua Brown murder; police say it was drug deal gone bad

DALLAS - Authorities have two men in custody for the murder of Joshua Brown and are searching for one more person in what Dallas police say was a drug deal gone bad.

Brown, who was a featured witness in the Amber Guyger murder trial, was shot to death at the Atera apartments in the 4600 block of Cedar Springs Road on Friday night. The 28-year-old man was previously Botham Jean's neighbor at a different apartment complex. He testified about what he heard the night of Jean's murder.

Jacquerious Mitchell, 20, is in custody and gave police his version of events from the night. 

Late Tuesday night, Dallas police confirmed 32-year-old Michael Mitchell was arrested around 6:30 p.m. by members of the US Marshals Task Force at a motel in Marksville, Louisiana. 

Police are still searching for Thaddeus Green, 22.

The arrest affidavit for Jacquerious says Dallas police were contacted by a sheriff's deputy in Louisiana who had received a tip. The tipster said the trio were coming to Dallas with a plan to rob Brown.

Jacquerious told police all three of the men traveled from Alexandria, Lousiana, to buy drugs from Brown on Friday. When the three arrived, a "physical altercation" happened between Green and Brown, according to Jacquerious. That culminated in Brown shooting Jacquerious once in the chest. Then, Brown was shot twice by Green in the lower body.

Green took the gun and Brown's backpack, police said, and fled the scene as Michael drove away.

Promise Hospital, a private long-term acute care facility, is where police say Michael took his wounded nephew, Jacquerius. Patrol officers were called out and had a conversation with the now-fugitive accomplice.

According to the arrest affidavit, Michael told the officers "they attempted to buy some ‘weed’” from an unknown individual and he attempted to rob them. They said an unknown suspect shot Jacquerious and provided officers a name of "Demon Martin."

Jacquerius was taken to Parkland Hospital, where he remains for treatment and is in police custody.

Michael, claiming to be a victim, was questioned but not arrested. Dallas police detectives are in Louisiana searching for him and Green, along with U.S. Marshals in Texas and Louisiana.

Police later executed a search warrant for Brown's apartment and found 12 lbs. of marijuana, 149 grams of THC cartridges and $4,157 in cash.

Dallas police on Tuesday chastised local leaders who inflamed people about potential connections between Brown's death and his testimony in the Guyger trial.

"The rumors shared by community leaders that Mr. Brown’s death was related to the Amber Guyger trial and that DPD was responsible are false. We encourage those leaders to be mindful because their words may jeopardize the integrity of the city of Dallas and DPD," the department said.

Attorney Lee Merritt, first representing Jean's family and now speaking for the family of Brown, said on Saturday that Brown had "no known enemies." On Monday, he said the possibility of law enforcement involvement in Brown's murder couldn’t be ruled out.

When asked Tuesday if his position on the statement or his call for an outside investigation has changed, Merritt reiterated his desire for another agency to handle the case.

“The chief of police held a press conference last week and implicated her own department, not in this murder obviously, but to say that there’s corruption that was revealed during the trial that she would have to have an internal affairs investigation to look at that,” Merritt said. “If she can acknowledge that there are issues with the integrity of her department, then why not apply that same concept to say we must get this right for this family to restore trust within the community and bring in an outside agency.”

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson reinforced the police department's position, saying Tuesday he is grateful that detectives took the initial steps to bring closure. He added thanks to everyone who demonstrated patience and responsibly reserved judgment while police gathered the facts. He concluded by urging anyone with additional information to come forward.

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