CROWLEY, Texas (AP) - Crowley police announced Thursday that two Fort Worth men have been charged in the August shooting deaths of two teenagers whose bodies were found near a North Texas road.
Kyle Mathis Otey and Shailen Alexander Chowdhury, both 20, were charged with capital murder of multiple persons in the shooting deaths of 19-year-old Matthew Lemus and 17-year-old Edgar Ramirez, both of Crowley. The two men turned themselves in and each posted $100,000 bond Wednesday, police said.
Police responded to a call on Aug. 5 about two bodies in public. Officers found the two teens, who an autopsy later determined had died from shotgun wounds.
Lt. Robert Gray said the department would not release additional details or interviews out of respect for the victims’ families. He also said attorney information for Otey and Chowdhury was not available Thursday.
Court records did not show an attorney for either man. The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office had not received the case as of Thursday afternoon.
Arrest warrant affidavits for Otey and Chowdhury issued Nov. 8, show police believe the murders happened during a drug deal, when the two deceased men planned to rob Chowdhury.
Officers used Ramirez’s phone to see he had been texting a number they said belonged to Chowdhury to arrange for a drug deal. Officers said friends of the two teens told them in interviews, that the two had intended to rob Chowdhury.
According to the police narrative, friends of Chowdhury said Otey had fronted him some marijuana a few days earlier and Chowdhury had been robbed by a different individual on Aug. 3. On Aug. 5, prior to the arranged meeting time, Otey, Chowdhury and another friend had driven around searching for the individual who had robbed Chowdhury and according to friends had a shotgun and other weapons in the car. Police did not say in the narrative whether they believe Ramirez and Lemus followed through on the plan to rob Chowdhury.
Police searched Otey’s house and were unable to locate the shotgun or the car they were allegedly driving.
A Palo Pinto County constable, about 70 miles West of Fort Worth, found Otey’s vehicle on Aug. 31 hidden. Police said the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab matched biological evidence inside the car to Ramirez, but not to Lemus.
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