It was murder
Published 8:55 pm Thursday, February 2, 2012
Though the case is still under investigation, Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman announced an arrest has been made in connection with Wednesday’s Sunshine Village shooting death.
Huffman said Dallas County resident Jody Baldwin, 21, whose address was listed as 71 County Road 470, was taken into custody Wednesday night. Baldwin, he said, has been charged with murder and is being held in the Dallas County Jail. No bond had been set as of Thursday afternoon.
Though an arrest has been made, Huffman said the motivation behind the murder is still unknown.
“We’ve talked to (Baldwin) and another witness and both of them say the guy came down there to rob him,” he said. “But the only guns we were able to recover were those of the suspect. We’re doing an investigation of the vehicle, but as far as the victim and his two passengers, we haven’t found any guns that were in possession.”
The victim, Demetris Johnson, was discovered Wednesday afternoon in a cotton field off Dallas County Road 469 after residents of the area heard shots being fired. Johnson was lying on his back in the field fatally injured from shots to the upper chest and head.
Johnson’s red Crown Victoria was taken from the scene as part of the investigation.
A murder weapon has not been recovered from the scene, Huffman said, but they feel like they know the make of the gun.
“We believe it’s going to be a shotgun,” he said. “We’re still going to be picking up a few people and talking to them. We’re going to go back and talk to some of the residents nearby.”
Huffman said he believes there were three people in the car, including Johnson, and two people in the house.