'It's awful': Teen suspect identifies gunman, getaway driver in NW OKC murder
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Three people, including a 17-year-old, have been charged in connection to the murder of a man in Northwest Oklahoma City over the weekend, and court documents say the teen suspect offered up enough information to incriminate them all.
The shooting happened the evening of October 12 outside of a liquor store near Britton and Western. Police initially told News 4 that 24-year-old Javier Morales Jr., was shot and killed after an altercation with multiple people near his car.
News 4 spoke with "I've Had It" podcast host Jennifer Welch Tuesday, who said Morales was her building manager and a production assistant for her podcast. She explained that Morales was at the store the night of the shooting to run an errand for his girlfriend.
"He was going to see her in Edmond, and he just stopped to pick up some stuff and that was it," said Welch.
The 17-year-old suspect told police in an interview, suspect Brooklynn Miller had driven him and another suspect J'ceon Lewis, to the same store Morales stopped at the night of the murder.
The teen told police he did not know Morales. He said he went inside the store with Miller and when they came back out he saw Lewis talking to Morales. The teen said to police he heard Morales and Lewis arguing about a bag that Morales had pulled out of his car, and believed the bag had marijuana inside.
The teen said he saw Lewis and Morales both reaching toward their waists to pull out guns, but believed Lewis was trying to rob Morales, and that Morales was defending himself.
The teen said he ran away when he heard gunshots, both he and Lewis eventually jumped back into Miller's car, who allegedly drove them both away. He said neither he or Miller actually fired a weapon.
"I was very concerned," said Deb Tran, who lives nearby and has a newborn child. "I was scared. We were watching TV and then all of a sudden out of nowhere there was multiple gunshots."
Tran said it was hard to hear that someone had been killed as a result, noting she had to have heard around 12-15 consecutive gunshots.
"It's really concerning that those kind of things are happening right here, and I don't really understand why people are shooting each other," said Tran. "It's awful."
The 17-year-old and Lewis were booked on felony murder complaints and are being held on $10 million bonds.
Miller is being held on a $200,000 bond and was booked for accessory to murder in the first degree.