Suspect accused of killing 19-year-old in South Dallas arrested hundreds of miles from shooting scene
Dallas police say they have arrested a man accused of killing a 19-year-old and injuring 3 others in a shooting.
27-year-old Jeremiah Moore was taken into custody on Monday in Donley County, not far from Amarillo.
Police were called to the shooting in South Dallas on Elsie Faye Heggins Street, near Haskell Avenue and South Fitzhugh, around 2 p.m. on Monday.
Police say two women and a man from the same family were shot inside an apartment. Another man was shot outside a nearby car wash.
19-year-old savannah Rodriguez, who went by Savannah Chavez, was killed in Monday’s shooting.
"A good person that deserves to go to heaven," is how 9-year-old Ricardo Ramirez describes his cousin.
Chavez had just celebrated her birthday. A recent high school graduation photo shows her and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Christopher Morales, who was also shot but survived.
"I very enjoyed the time I had with her, although I wish she was still here right now," Ricardo said.
Dallas police say Moore shot Chavez, Morales and Chavez’s grandmother, Minerva Arredondo, at their apartment in South Dallas.
Chavez died. Morales and Arredondo are still in the hospital.
"I never would have suspected something like that would have happened," said Arrendondo’s brother, Martin Ramirez.
He says the family was very close.
"The never told me they were intimidated by any shape or form," he said.
Martin said a man also named Jeremiah Moore lived in his family’s complex.
"I said, ‘Was he trouble? Did y’all know him?’ She said, ‘We didn’t know him, but he would occasionally… I don’t know if he has a girlfriend across that complex or something, but he would fight and argue real loud,’" he recalled.
Martin doesn’t know why Moore would want to hurt his family.
"They have no enemies," he said.
Dallas police say after Moore shot the three victims inside the apartment, he drove over to a nearby car wash and shot another man. His identity has not been released yet, but he is expected to survive.
Martin says the family does not know the fourth victim.
"I want to find out why y’all were targeted or if this was just a random act or this was mistaken for someone else," he said.
The family was going to celebrate Chavez’s great-grandfather’s 95th birthday this weekend, but instead, they’re planning a funeral.
"We’re gonna miss her dearly," Martin said. "Savannah was a good girl, a good sweet girl."
Witness Patricia Asberry told FOX 4 they saw a man in a hoodie with at least two weapons shooting up a home and a car wash.
"I thought he was gonna shoot me because of the way he was looking at us. He had both his guns in his hands, and he stopped and paused and just stared at us for a while," she said.
Police arrested Moore in Donley County about 300 miles northwest of Dallas.
The men inside the apartment and at its bullet-riddled door are not wanting to talk about the tragedy.
A Dallas police squad car is keeping watch over the complex Tuesday from an adjacent parking lot.
Multiple residents said the man in custody lived in this apartment with a woman and a baby.
Across the parking lot from where the shooting took place, neighbors say Moore moved his family Monday morning, returned in the afternoon and opened fire.
Martin says Arredondo had surgery Tuesday but is expected to recover from her injuries.
Morales is in the ICU, but he’s conscious and talking.
The family hopes detectives can get some answers out of Moore as to why he did this.
Moore will be charged with murder and three counts of aggravated assault. He is currently being held in Donley County.