4 suspects charged with capital murder after Arlington shooting linked to violent crime spree
ARLINGTON – Four suspects are in custody and have been charged with capital murder after a shooting victim died from his injuries.
On Sunday, Dec. 15, at approximately 3 a.m., Arlington police responded to a reported shooting in the parking lot of a business in the 4900 block of Little Road, according to a news release. When they arrived, they found a man shot and slumped over inside a parked vehicle.
The man was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead three days later, on Dec. 18, police said. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office has identified him as 34-year-old Juan Sosa.
A 45-year-old woman who was in the vehicle with Sosa told police that as they were getting into the car, another vehicle — a Honda Civic — blocked them in. Four people got out of the vehicle and two walked over to the couple, the news release states.
The woman told police that one of the suspects pointed a gun at them and told them to get out of their vehicle. "Moments later, shots were fired and the man inside the car was struck," according to the police report.
The four suspects got back into the vehicle and drove away. After speaking with witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage, officers obtained a detailed description of the suspect vehicle. Shortly after 5 a.m., Arlington police officers spotted the Civic and a Lincoln Town Car that appeared to be following it on Parkway Lane.
The officer attempted to pull the Civic over, but the driver fled. The Town Car did stop, leading to the arrests of 20-year-old Humberto Barajas and a teenage male, who police were able to link to the shooting, according to a news release.
Not long after, officers found the Civic wrecked in the 2100 block of Browning Drive. They later located a passenger at a nearby apartment complex, identified as 17-year-old Angel Barajas, and took him into custody.
A fourth suspect, identified as 17-year-old Ja'Tavies Jones, initally managed to evade capture. On Thursday, members of the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force located him in Arlington and took him into custody without incident. He was booked into the Arlington City Jail.
Investigators learned that the Civic had been reported stolen out of Dallas on Saturday, Dec. 14, at approximately 9:45 p.m., according to a news release.
They also believe that the following day, at around 1:30 a.m., all four suspects were involved in a separate shooting at an apartment complex in the 2900 block of Deer Creek Drive, during which a 32-year-old woman and a dog were injured.
The woman's 34-year-old boyfriend told police that a group of young men knocked on their door looking for someone who did not live there, which led to an argument, according to the police report.
During the argument, the boyfriend got a bat and told the suspects to leave, according to the report. He told police that was when "at least one of the suspects pulled out a gun and began firing" towards the apartment, striking the woman in the arm and grazing their dog.
The suspects were seen leaving the complex in the same Civic involved in the deadly shooting.
According to police, the Town Car, in which Humberto Barajas and the teenage male were found, had also been reported stolen during an armed carjacking in Grand Prairie around 4:20 a.m. on Sunday.
Angel Barajas was initially booked into the Arlington City Jail on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of animal cruelty and one count of evading.
Humberto Barajas was booked on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated robbery and one count of animal cruelty. He also had an outstanding felony warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon from Dallas County.
The teenager, who has not been identified because he is a minor, was transported to the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center and initially charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated robbery and one count of animal cruelty.
After Sosa's death, detectives obtained arrest warrants for all four suspects, charging them with one count of capital murder and an additional count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
