A Bowie County grand jury has indicted three brothers for murder and aggravated assault in connection with an allegedly drug-related shooting last July.
Jacoby Demorse Johnson, 18, Dequlain Sims, 23, and Jacarie Sims, 24, are accused in the July 7 shooting of a man and his grandmother in the 300 block of Brookwood Drive in Texarkana, Texas. Police were called to the area shortly before 4 a.m. and found Tracy Fielding, 21, with "soon-to-be-fatal gunshot wounds to his head and torso," according to a probable cause affidavit.
Fielding's grandmother, 59-year-old Vickie Simpson, was struck by bullets in the right forearm and shoulder. Investigators were able to identify Jacoby Johnson as a suspect by a receipt dropped on the ground near the shooting from IHOP. The receipt was dry while the street and yard were moist from recent rains.
Johnson lived just a couple of blocks away from Fielding on Belt Road. Fielding's cellphone allegedly showed that the last text conversation he had was with Jacarie Sims and was allegedly in reference to a marijuana transaction.
One of the three defendants allegedly admitted that the men had gone to Fielding's residence to confront him about a short in the amount of product they purchased. The defendant described Fielding as waving a sawed-off shotgun, which scared the brothers and led DeQulain Sims to fire rounds from a handgun he carried.
One of the defendants allegedly told investigators he buried the pistol behind a residence on Belt Road. The gun was recovered by Texarkana, Texas, police.
All three men were released from jail in late July on $350,000 bonds. However, Jacarie Sims' bond was revoked in December following an arrest for debit/credit card abuse. Jacarie Sims allegedly used a debit card he found near an ATM to make unauthorized purchases on Christmas day.
All three defendants face five to 99 years or life in prison on each charge if convicted of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. All of the cases are assigned to 5th District Judge Bill Miller.