HOUSTON – A teenager is facing two charges of capital murder for recent shootings around Houston.
Anthony Jamerson, 17, was taken in for questioning after police say his accomplice in two other killings was found dead.
On Wednesday, Jaylen Townsel, 18, was shot to death in a car in the Fifth Ward. Investigators say Jamerson told officers he was driving Townsel to the hospital when he died. But after Jamerson gave police conflicting stories, they brought him in for questioning.
After talking with Townsel's mother, police say they have connected both Jamerson and Townsel to two recent fatal shootings.
"Townsel, the person in both other cases, is killed, and he is found with a body. They go speak with dead person's mother, and she says my son is up to no good, he hangs out with a guy named Ant, they find out Ant is Anthony, she identifies him as the person he was hanging out with and they identify him as the person in the videos," prosecutors said in court.
On May 11, police say Jamerson and three other suspects shot and killed a man in the parking lot of America's Best Value Inn on Airline near the North Freeway. Police say they entered the hotel parking lot on foot, approached the victim and shot him. They stole $10,000 in cash and the victim's gun before fleeing the scene, police say.
Jamerson is also accused of shooting and killing a clerk inside the Phillips 66 store near Humble during an attempted robbery on June 1. In this surveillance video, you can see how three masked gunmen stormed into the convenience store and almost immediately opened fire, killing 58-year-old Satish Patel.
During that robbery, police say Jamerson was shot in the hand.
Now officers are questioning him about the shooting death of Townsel, who officers believe was Jamerson's accomplice for the two other shootings.
Reporter Gianna Caserta will have more on this story on Local 2 News this afternoon.