HOUSTON – What started as a routine trip to school Friday morning ended in a way 18-year-old Tremel Manning would have never imagined. Houston police nearly arrested him after a case of mistaken identity.
"They pulled me out of the car, told me to get on the ground. They were like, 'We are booking you for murder,'" Manning said.
A source tells Local 2, Houston police were acting on a tip when they pulled over the car that Manning, a Channelview High School student, was riding in. They were lead to believe Brandon Jackson, a high-profile murder suspect they'd been looking for, was one of the passengers.
Late last month, Jackson was charged in the deadly shooting of his mother's boyfriend, 35-year-old Ronalee McGuire. Jackson left the home with his mother shortly after the shooting and hasn't been seen since.
"I was just like, 'Can you show me a picture or something?' They showed me a picture and I was like, 'That's not me,'" Manning said.
Police arrested the driver and another passenger, though it's not clear why. They fingerprinted Manning before letting him and a female passenger go.
Jackson is still on the run. And Manning is taking this case of mistaken identity in stride.
"I'm not really tripping about it. They let me go," Manning said.
He was left at the scene with no way to get to school, so he had to call someone to pick him up.