Bexar County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested one of two men they believe are responsible for the shooting deaths of a man and 14-year-old boy.
The arrest of Jaylen Dears, 17, came roughly one week after deputies found Robert Smith, 20, and Bobby Lee Carter Jr., 14, in a shot-up car in the 7300 block of Rubens Drive in the county’s Northeast Side. Dears is charged with capital murder, jail records showed.
Before arresting Dears, deputies talked to two witnesses inside the car with Smith and Carter when the shooting happened, searched cell phones found at the scene and reviewed surveillance footage of the shooting, according to Dears’ arrest affidavit.
The witnesses inside the car who survived from the shooting uninjured told investigators that they were there to sell marijuana to Smith when Dears and the other suspect walked up to the car from the passenger side to rob them, according to the affidavit.
The witnesses told police they heard one of the gunmen say “naw (expletive) this is a homicide” prior to opening fire toward the vehicle, striking Carter and Smith.
Dears has no prior criminal history in Bexar County, online court records showed. He remained in jail Friday and his bail has been set at $500,000.
Deputies are still seeking to arrest one other suspect in connection with this case.
The shooting was part of a recent uptick in violent crime on the Northeast Side. In response to the incidents, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deployed a mobile substation to add additional patrolling in the area.