3 new arrests, suspect rapped about homicide of Infowars employee, APD says

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three additional people have been arrested in the homicide of an Infowars employee at the Chandelier Apartments in March, according to an Austin Police Department press conference Thursday.

Rodney Charles Hill, 17, was the latest arrest in the case, according to Detective Jason Jones. He was taken into custody Tuesday. He and three others, two of whom are under 17 and not identified under Texas law, face capital murder charges.

Officers responded to the complex in the 2300 block of Douglas Street — near East Oltorf Street and Interstate 35 — around 11:57 p.m. on March 9. When they arrived, they found a man with trauma in the complex’s parking lot, APD said at the time. He died the next day.

Police previously identified the victim as Jamie White, an Infowars employee. According to APD, the initial investigation showed White was shot after interrupting people burglarizing his green Kia Soul in the parking lot of his apartment complex.

"At this time, we do not believe that Jamie was targeted," Jones said. "Instead, we believe this is a very unfortunate and tragic series of senseless events ... involving the four individuals who obviously have no value for human life."

At the time, Infowars posted: “Jamie was a light we were blessed to experience as much as we did. He’s a one-of-a-kind man who poured his devotion in anything he did.”

Earlier in May, APD announced the arrest of one of the four suspects connected to the deadly shooting. That person was identified as 17-year-old Eloy Adrian Camarillo, according to an affidavit. He was booked into the Travis County Jail on May 1 on a charge of capital murder by terror threat/other felony, with a bond set at $250,000, court records show. A 15-year-old was arrested May 5, and a second 15-year-old was arrested May 20, APD said.

KXAN reached out to Camarillo's attorney and will update this story when we receive a response. Hill does not yet have an attorney, according to online court records.

According to the affidavit, the suspects were approaching “Kia-brand vehicles” before successfully breaking into the green Kia Soul.

Court documents note that APD “knows that car thieves frequently target Kia vehicles due to manufacturing defects that make them easy targets for auto theft.”

Investigators said the suspects also allegedly stole other Kias between March 9 and March 11.

Jones said the case is still open and active, but APD believes "all those responsible are in custody."

Tracking down suspects

Police traced a series of stolen vehicles as they worked to track down the suspects, Jones said. The car the suspects used when they arrived at White's apartment had been stolen from a Kyle apartment on March 9. In turn, surveillance video showed the suspects had been in another stolen Kia when they stole that one, Jones said. Police used surveillance footage, cell tower data, cell phone data and license plate readers to identify the suspects.

After his arrest, an arrest affidavit described that Camarillo told police he and three others had stolen two other cars and burglarized others before trying to break into White's car. He said White confronted them, holding what looked like a bat, and that Hill shot him. An expandable baton and a "single spent 9mm cartridge case" were found at the scene, according to an arrest affidavit.

Police found audio recordings on Hill's cell phone of a person they believe to be Hill rapping about White's death.

The affidavit said some of the lyrics included a mention of White's name and referenced what happened, including "White boy came outside/Hit his damn a-- with a 9."

'Your vehicle is not worth your life'

Jones said there have been multiple cases in the last two years of people being hurt when trying to stop their car from being stolen, including one two weeks ago that resulted in the arrest of a 12 and a 13-year-old.

"I know we've had other incidents where young men have been interripted during a vehicle theft and fired rounds or shot somebody, and that person didn't die," Jones said. "So this is a very big problem in Austin, and we're doing everything we can to hold those individuals accountable."

He said the suspects in this case had tried to steal another Kia Soul, but it had a vehicle lock on it, so they "moved on." He called protections like that on vehicles "a very cheap way to fix this."

People should call 911, give good descriptions of suspects and where they head afterward, Jones said, instead of trying to confront anyone because "what we are seeing in this city is all these kids are armed."

"Your vehicle is not worth your life," he added.