DALLAS, Texas (KTVT/CNN/KOBI) – Three suspects have been identified in the homicide of Joshua Brown, a key witness who testified against former Texas officer Amber Guyger during her trial for murder.
The Dallas Police Department said the three — identified as Jacquerious Mitchell, 20, Michael Mitchell, 32, and Thaddeous Green, 22 — drove to Dallas from Louisiana to buy drugs from Brown.
According to police, Jacquerious Mitchell is the only suspect in custody. He’s being held at a hospital for gunshot wounds he says were inflicted by Brown. Dallas officers are still looking for Green and Michael Mitchell.
Even with the identification of the suspects, there are calls for an outside investigator to look into the killing of Brown. The Dallas community is calling the timing of his death troubling.
For a city taking its first tentative steps toward healing, the murder of prosecution witness Joshua Brown ripped the bandage off of a still-fresh wound.
Joshua Brown’s friend, Donte Anderson, said, “Josh’s heart touched a lot of people and when you lose somebody like that, a little piece of everybody he touched is gone, too.”
The world was watching as Brown tearfully told jurors of about his neighbor, Botham Jean.
He also testified that he did not hear the fired Dallas police officer Amber Guyger give verbal commands before opening fire. Joshua Brown testified in court, “I can’t say that I heard any type of words that I could make out.”
Then on Friday night, someone opened fire on Brown in an Oak Lawn area apartment parking lot. Many in the community feared that he was targeted because of his testimony.
But, family members have said that Brown was concerned about a nightclub altercation late last year.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt stated, “Members of Joshua’s family have expressed to me, and his close friends, that there were ongoing threats related to the November 2018 shooting at the Dallas Cabaret.”
The shooting at the Dallas nightclub left one man dead and wounded Brown.
Now critics say the community needs answers. “No one moves on from this case as an unsolved murder,” Merritt said. “We need answers, and we need them to come from a reliable source.”
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has also called for an outside inquiry into the shooting.
Assistant Dallas Police Chief Avery Moore denied any connection with his department and Brown’s death. He stated Tuesday, “As you know there has been speculation and rumors that have been shared by community leaders claiming that Mr. Brown’s death was related to the Amber Guyger trial and somehow the Dallas Police Department was responsible. I assure you that is simply not true, and I encourage those leaders to be mindful of their actions moving forward because their words have jeopardized the integrity of the city of Dallas as well as the Dallas Police Department.”
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