Wichita Falls police have revealed a widespread investigation — that has resulted in multiple arrests — centers on the death of Trevenian Mitchell on May 6, 2024.
Mitchell, 28, died from a gunshot wound to the head, police said. Police initially believed the shooting was accidental but later said it was being investigated as a murder.
On Thursday, the Wichita Fall Police Department said in a news release that Elmondo Leusay Gildon was charged with a homicide that occurred on May 19, 2024, in Dallas County.
Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless convicted beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. Neither Gildon nor anyone else was charged in the Mitchell homicide as of Thursday.
A Wichita Falls police investigation has led to seven arrests.
“WFPD detectives were able to assist in that investigation while working a separate homicide investigation that occurred in Wichita Falls,” WFPD said in a news release.
Gildon, 44, was arrested April 9 in Wichita Falls and charged with five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, court and jail records show.
He was being held Thursday in Wichita County Jail on $2.25 million in total bonds, according to online jail records.
Bail on each firearms charge was set at $250,000, jail records show. His bail on the Dallas murder was set at $1 million, and he was ordered held without bail for a parole violation.
The investigation into Mitchell’s death has resulted in seven people’s arrests connected to the investigation into Gildon. But none is linked to the homicide.
A court affidavit said a search of Gildon’s cell phone uncovered text messages that revealed a retail theft operation.
As a result, two women, Patricia Vasquez and Jessica Florence Brooks-Jones, were arrested.
According to allegations in affidavits filed in the cases, a thread of text messages spanning August 2023 to January 2025 connected Gildon to a contact called “Lowes Lady.”
Police allege “Lowes Lady” was Vasquez, an employee of Lowe’s hardware store who took merchandise from the store and sold it directly to Gildon at half price.
A search warrant on a storage container at a house on Oriole Street produced merchandise suspected of being stolen from Lowe’s, according to affidavits. Police found two firearms at the house, which they said was the residence of Maricia Rousha Blair.
Because Blair has felony convictions, officers arrested her and charged her with unlawful possession of a firearm and with stalking in an unrelated case.
Another search at an address on Tulsa Street owned by Brooks-Jones netted nearly $2,000 in merchandise investigators think was stolen from Lowe’s, according to allegations.
An affidavit said Gildon and Brooks-Jones were in a romantic and business relationship.
Vasquez was arrested April 10 and had bail set at $25,000 on organized retail theft. She was released the next day.
Jones was arrested April 12 and had bail set a $15,000 on engaging in organized criminal activity/organized retail theft. Her bail was set at $15,000, and she was released the following day.
Blair was arrested April 14 and was released the following day on $115,000 bail.
Three women have been charged with perjury for testimony they gave in March about the local murder probe. All have since been released on bail.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: WF murder investigation spawns multiple arrests on various charges