A key witness in the Amber Guyger murder trial who was gunned down last week in the parking lot of a Dallas apartment complex was involved in a drug deal, according to police.
Joshua Brown, who was 28 at the time of his death last week, delivered tear-filled testimony during the trial of Guyger, a former Dallas police officer, who was convicted of murder in the shooting death of Botham Jean. Guyger mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own and fired on Jean, who she assumed to be an intruder. Brown described that he heard two shots ring out from Jean’s apartment that night. Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime after mounting an unsuccessful bid to use Texas “Stand your ground” laws as a defense for her actions.
Brown was found shot to death in another Dallas apartment complex on Friday, just 10 days after taking the stand in the trial of Guyger, sparking immediate rumors that his testimony had been a motivating factor in his murder.
Dallas police dismissed the rumors on Tuesday, however, stating that Brown’s death was the result of a drug deal gone awry. “Through the dedicated work of the DPD homicide detectives, we have identified 3 suspects in the murder of Joshua Brown,” said a tweet from the Dallas Police Department on Tuesday. Those suspects were Jacquerious Mitchell, 20, Thaddeous Green, 22, and Michael Mitchell, 32.
Through the dedicated work of the DPD homicide detectives, we have identified 3 suspects in the murder of Joshua Brown. Jacquerious Mitchell B/M age 20, Michael Mitchell B/M age 32 and Thaddeous Green B/M age 22 pic.twitter.com/v0vikYEpD4
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) October 8, 2019
Police said that the three suspects traveled to Dallas from Louisiana to purchase drugs from Brown when the transaction went bad and the men began firing on each other. Jacquerious was wounded when Brown shot him in the chest, and the two other suspects transported him to a hospital for emergency care before fleeing themselves. Brown was then shot multiple times by Green, according to Jacquerious. Mitchell and Green remain at large, while Jacquerious remains in critical condition in police custody at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
Capital murder charges have been filed against all three suspects in the death of Brown.
Jacquerious also told police that a backpack and gun used by Brown were taken by Green after the altercation. Those items have not yet been located. Dallas police also stated that “numerous tips” led them to search the apartment of Brown where they recovered multiple controlled substances, including 12 pounds of marijuana and 149 grams of THC cartridges. They also recovered $4,000 in cash.
Brown had expressed concern for his safety before taking the stand in Guyger’s trial, as he believed he had previously been the target in a 2018 shooting that left him wounded and another man dead.
