01-05-09 Homicides up in Ector County, Odessa

Homicides up in Ector County, OdessaComments 0 Recommend 0
January 5, 2009 - 11:01 AM
BY DOUG CARMAN
The year brought a rise in homicides throughout Ector County.
The Ector County Sheriff's Office and the Odessa Police Department reported a total of 13 homicides -including two murder-suicides - through Dec. 13. This was more than the eight homicides reported in all of 2007 and the four reported in 2006.
Odessa Police Cpl. Sherrie Carruth did not comment on how the number of homicides in the city, which had nine of the 13 homicides in the county, would compare to the rate seen during the oil bust of the 1980s, when Odessa was dubbed the murder capital of America.
"We definitely had more murders," she said. "It's hard to compare it to the '80s since none of us have gone through it."
The following are summaries of the 13 homicides reported by the Odessa Police Department and the Ector County Sheriff's Office:
>> Rene Roman, 20, was stabbed to death Jan. 6 at the Graham Central Station nightclub parking lot, 4240 Preston Smith Road. Roman was of Andrews.
Arnaldo "Nano" Ramirez, 20, of 4700 Shady Lane Drive in Midland, was arrested three days later in connection to the stabbing. He remains in the Ector County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond.
>> Susan Kay "Nanny" Clark, 59, was found dead Feb. 1 at her West Odessa home at 3547 N. Ferguson Ave., after being strangled.
Jan David Clark, her husband, was arrested the same day and remains in the Ector County Detention Center on a $300,000 bond in connection to her death. The accused told an Odessa American reporter he killed his wife because a demon was in her body.
>> Juan Cardenas Soria, 50, and Maria Navarette Porras, 43, were both found dead at a home Feb. 17 at 2110 N. Hancock Ave., each with a single gunshot wound. Porras was a nurse's aide.
Police determined it to be a murder-suicide. Preliminary lab results suggested Soria was the shooter.
>> Cornelius J. Washington, 24, collapsed at the entrance to the Rose Hill Cemetery and died after he was shot with a shotgun Feb. 19, following an argument at Billy's Zodiac Club, 400 S. Dixie Blvd.
Billy Gene Harris Jr., 21, was subsequently arrested and charged with Washington's death. He's being held without bond at the Ector County Detention Center.
>> Ryan Adam Moon, 26, died at the Odessa Regional Medical Center after he was stabbed May 30 in the 700 block of Bunche Avenue.
Christopher David Lyson, 29, was arrested June 5 in Midland, transferred to Ector County Detention Center and charged with Moon's death. He's being held without bond.
>> Robert Clayton Thornhill, 25, was reported missing May 21 before his body was found northwest of Goldsmith June 17. Police said four suspects said they slit his throat and shot him with a crossbow.
Derek Elms, 20, Willie Carl Hurst, 18, Heather Mitchell, 19, and Kathleen Newbury, 20, were all arrested and charged with Thornhill's death in June. They pleaded not guilty in September and are all at the Ector County Detention Center without bond, awaiting trial. The final autopsy results were being withheld by the Odessa Police Department.
>> Jarrett Wesley Weaver, 23, and Kelsi Miller Weaver, 22, were both found dead with gunshot wounds Oct. 7 at the Spanish Oaks East Apartments, 4630 Oakwood Drive No. 206. Kelsi Weaver worked at Ector County Abstract Co., was a part-time waitress at Harrigan's and was also a student at Odessa College. Jarrett Weaver was a welder and worked at a gym.
Police immediately suspected the deaths were part of a murder-suicide. After further investigation, they determined Jarrett shot Kelsi before turning the gun on himself.
>> Rey Valdez, 20, died at Medical Center Hospital Oct. 9 after he was fatally shot during a dispute near his home at 7306 Hughes Lane north of Odessa early that morning. Valdez worked for Eagle Compressions.
Seven suspects either turned themselves in or were apprehended in connection to Valdez's death by the end of October. Kevin Rance Jackson, 35, was arrested in Midland while Billy Wayne Haynes, 32, Hannah Psalm Fierros, 26, Summer Wilkins, 27, George Buford Scott, 36, Greta Lee Caldwell, 29, and David Wayne Callaway, 47, were arrested in Odessa. All were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity in Valdez's slaying. All of them are at the Ector County Detention Center on bonds ranging from $250,000 to $500,000, except for Callaway and Fierros, who are being held without bond. Sheriff's investigators are still trying to locate the gun used in Valdez's slaying.
>> Ray Sauceda Jr., 25, was found slumped in his car, killed by multiple gunshot wounds in his chest at approximately 10:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the High Plains Apartments parking lot, 3727 Andrews Highway. Sauceda, of Odessa, was an automotive mechanic.
Police investigators still have no suspects in the shooting.
>> Thomas Fisher Goodnight, 53, was found lying on the floor of his home by his employer after he was slain by a shotgun wound in his neck and upper chest on Nov. 12 at 5447 E. Hammett Drive south of Odessa, which also doubled as a motorcycle club hangout.
Sheriff's investigators still have no suspects in the shooting.
>> Rodolfo Alvarez Sanchez Jr., 27, died at Medical Center Hospital Dec. 12, after he called 9-1-1 and reported that someone shot him with a shotgun near the intersection of Boles Drive and Kellogg Avenue in West Odessa. Sanchez, of Odessa, was an oilfield supervisor.
Sheriff's investigators still have no suspects in the shooting.
Some homicides that also grabbed the Permian Basin's attention included:
>> The May 7 stabbing deaths of Richard and Alicia Cherry at a bar in Pecos.
>> The July 22 stabbing of Jorge Silva, 47, in Crane, which, along with an assault on a woman and an attack on a police officer, led to a 20-hour manhunt in three counties.
>> The July 23 stabbing of Victor Vidal, 23, and the Sept. 11 shooting of Sylvia Zapata, 45, in Midland, which were both linked to an ongoing rivalry between two families.