Murder case to go before grand jury next month
Two charged in man’s death
Two men accused of murdering a Texarkana, Texas, man earlier this year appeared Friday morning before a Bowie County judge.
Brandon Eric Brown, 22, and Marquell Deonte Smith, 21, are charged with murder in the death of Christopher Guilbeau, 24. Bowie County District Attorney Jerry Rochelle said he expects the case will be presented to a grand jury next month for formal indictment.
“The state is working diligently and at a fever pace to get this matter to the next setting of the grand jury,” Rochelle said. “There is a large amount of physical evidence to evaluate here.”
Rochelle noted that investigators had to process multiple crime scenes in the case.
Brown and Smith were arrested March 5 by police in Oklahoma. Brown was driving Christopher Guilbeau’s 2008 white Dodge pickup, and Smith was a passenger when officers in Tulsa, Okla., pulled the truck over, according to a probable-cause affidavit used to create the following account.
The day before the arrests, Guilbeau’s family reported him missing. Guilbeau’s family members told investigators they’d not heard from him since Feb. 20. Texarkana, Texas, police on March 4 flagged the truck as stolen and wanted in connection with a missing person case.
On March 6, Texarkana, Texas, investigators received information from several witnesses that led them to Guilbeau’s body. A witness told police that Smith had claimed to have robbed and shot Guilbeau before dragging his body into bushes in an alley at West 11th and Della streets in Texarkana, Texas.
Guilbeau’s body was discovered in the alley. It had been covered with flooring material, and an examination revealed two obvious gunshot wounds to his back. Investigators believe Guilbeau had been killed days before his body was found.
Brown and Smith spent several months in an Oklahoma jail before being returned to Texarkana to face murder charges. Brown’s bail is set at $750,000, and Smith’s is set at $1 million.
At Friday’s hearing, 202nd District Judge Leon Pesek, Jr., appointed Texarkana lawyer John Stroud to represent Brown. Bowie County Public Defender’s Office is representing Smith.