A Selma teenager was arrested Thursday and charged with capital murder for allegedly burglarizing a home and shooting the homeowner during the middle of the night in May.

Elijah Alfonso Harris, 17, was arrested Thursday morning and is being held without bond at the Dallas County Jail.

Harris allegedly broke into a home on the 800 block of Laredo Court near Craig Air Force Base on May 19 and shot 39-year-old Jesscilus Phillips.

Harris appeared before Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway Jr. Thursday afternoon for a bond hearing at the Dallas County Courthouse. Capital murder is automatically a non-bondable offense.

According to Captain Mike Granthum with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, officers responded to the scene around 5:30 a.m. in reference to a call of an unresponsive male lying face down in a driveway.

Granthum said when officers arrived on the scene, Phillips was already dead and had a gunshot wound to his upper left torso.

Granthum said the sliding glass door at the back of the house was shattered, and investigators believe something woke Phillips up.

“He was asleep in his bedroom upstairs. It appears that he was awakened by some type of noise. We don’t know if the glass woke him up or whatever,” Granthum said.

“He was walking downstairs, and due to evidence that was collected at the scene and due to some blood evidence, it appears he was struck in the hallway.”

According to testimony from investigator Jonathan Cole with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, a warrant was obtained after Trequan Smith, who was incarcerated at the time, allegedly overheard a phone conversation between Harris and someone else.

Smith gave a written statement saying he allegedly heard Harris admit to breaking into Phillips’ home and shooting him.

Cole stated a SIM card was found at the crime scene along with a 380-caliber shell casing. He also said a cell phone was turned over for analysis.

Assistant district attorney John Groos asked for Harris’ juvenile probation officer to take the stand, but the defense said they did not want to hear it because it involved a juvenile record.

Attorney Ed Greene, who represented Harris during the hearing, questioned the strength of the written statement made by Smith that said he heard Harris admit to the crime. Greene said it was a “skimpy matter” to hold Harris in jail without bond.

Attorney Brandon Wooten, who also represented Harris, said the state’s evidence is based only on hearsay, not solid evidence.

Wooten argued there was no mention of the conversation being on speakerphone. Wooten said Smith just “happened to be there” and hear who he thought was Harris.

Wooten also argued that there was not enough evidence to go through with the charges because the state’s argument is based on a conversation that was overheard.

After hearing both arguments, Pettaway upheld the no bond on the capital murder charge. He also said he was troubled by there being no hard evidence.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 21 at 10 a.m. at the Dallas County Courthouse.