TEXARKANA, Texas - A capital murder indictment was issued by a Bowie County grand jury last week for a 20-year-old man in connection with a drug-related shooting in December.
Christopher Oneal Cross allegedly knew the 15-year-old boy riding in the back seat of his Dodge Charger was carrying a gun and intended to rob Amilleon Kalaan Jackson of his marijuana, according to testimony given last month at a bond hearing for Cross. Cross and the juvenile allegedly had no money and intended to rob Jackson, 18, when they arranged to meet him for a marijuana transaction at an apartment complex at 39 Riverbend, which sits just off Farm to Market Road 2516, about a mile south of the road's intersection with U.S Highway 59 South.
The juvenile allegedly shot Jackson multiple times before being driven away from the scene by Cross on the afternoon of Dec. 22. Cross was recently denied a request to lower his $1 million bail by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
The Bowie County District Attorney's Office is in the process of completing the steps required to certify a juvenile to stand trial as an adult. If certified, the juvenile will face a lesser punishment range than his adult co-defendant if found guilty of capital murder.
Capital murder in Texas is typically punishable by life without parole or death by lethal injection. Juveniles certified as adults and convicted of capital murder face life with parole possible after 40 years.
Cross is being held in the Bowie County jail. The minor accused in the case is being held at a juvenile detention facility.
Cross is represented by Mount Pleasant, Texas, lawyer Mark Lesher. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards are prosecuting.