Suspect in Chili’s slaying to stand trial March 19
NEW BOSTON, Texas — A Mississippi man charged with capital murder in a 2020 fatal shooting at a local restaurant is set to stand trial on March 19.
A final pretrial hearing for Cedric Deshun Alexander is scheduled for March 18 in Bowie County’s 5th District Court, according to court records.
Alexander, 31, of Wall, Mississippi, is an alleged member of the Loyalty Cash Business gang. He was arrested in June 2022.
Alexander is charged with engaging in organized activity capital murder in the death of Jermaine Aldridge on Dec. 30, 2020, at Chili’s restaurant. He is also charged with engaging in organized criminal activity aggravated robbery.
Police officers found Aldridge lying between two cars in the Chili’s parking lot about 4:30 that afternoon. He had been shot once in the back and died at the scene.
Alexander is represented by attorneys Tabitha Branch and Jeff Harrelson, according to court records. He is being held in Bi-state Detention Center on a $1 million bail.
An 18-month police investigation into alleged violent criminal activity by the LCB/I-30 Cartel gang in the Texarkana area resulted in a number of arrests in June 2022. The extensive investigation involved Texas Department of Public Safety and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Bowie County District Attorney’s Office has charged the defendants with engaging in organized criminal activity.
As Texarkana Texas Police Department detectives investigated, they reportedly discovered Aldridge’s killing was a murder-for-hire plot involving the gang. Detectives also determined that the murder was actually part of a much larger series of criminal acts by LCB/I-30 Cartel members.
Investigators believe the LCB/I-30 Cartel gang is formed by members of local gangs working together to further their drug business interests. The gang formed business including I-30 Cartel entertainment and trucking companies to make it appear the money made from selling drugs came from legitimate means, according to court records.
Detectives think the group was also involved in the shooting of Joseph Hawkins as he sat in a vehicle outside a business in the 1700 block of West Third Street on July 15, 2021. This happened only minutes after another man was tied up inside his West 16th Street home and robbed at gunpoint by several men.
Courtney Derel Hope, 35, has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in Aldridge’s death and one count of engaging in organized
criminal activity in December 2023. He was sentenced to 40 years in Texas Department of Criminal Justice, according to court documents.
Hope was in jail in another county when Aldridge was killed,. Investigators think he was one of the gang members who orchestrated the murder, because he believed Aldridge had stolen his drug money.
Cornell Brown, 30, 0f Memphis, Tennessee, is another defendant allegedly associated with LCB. Brown is being held in the Miller County jail on a capital murder charge in the Sept. 20, 2021, shooting death of Keith Mcfadden in Texarkana, Arkansas.
A hold has been placed on him for the felony warrants issued for Texas incidents.
Brown has a court date in Miller County this week, according to court documents.
Van Grissom, 34, and Vonquildric Abraham, 29, both of Texarkana, Texas, are other alleged LCB members who are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity in Bowie County. They are also named in a probable cause affidavit that accuses former correctional officer Taleesia Nekole Morgan, 21, of supplying them with contraband in exchange for cash, according to court records.
Morgan is charged with possession of prohibited items in a correctional facility.
Calyn Grace Parker, 21, another former correctional officer, is also charged with possession of prohibited itmes in a correctional facility after she was arrested on New Year’s Eve with drugs and tobacco allegedly meant for inmates.
Another alleged LCB member, Markeis Richardson, 35, of Texarkana, Texas, is still at large. He is wanted on felony warrants for engaging in organized criminal activity, and engaging in organized activity for aggravated assault.
Richardson recently was named as one of the DPS’ 10 most wanted fugitives. He is considered armed and dangerous.
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to Richardson’s arrest. Anyone with information call call the Texas Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).