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Group looked ‘for people to rob’ before Dallas teen was fatally shot, per affidavit

Arrest affidavit says at least five people were riding around looking to rob people before Jake Reynosa, 18, was shot to death.

Update:
Updated 1:45 p.m. Thursday: Revised to include information from an additional arrest affidavit.

Several people conspired to rob a teenager and others near the American Airlines Center before fatally shooting a victim in the back as he ran away, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

Dallas police said Tuesday that three people, including two teen girls, are facing capital murder charges in the death of Jake Reynosa, 18. Police said Christopher Gaines Jr., 18, was arrested Tuesday and Isaiah Joseph Simmons, 18, was arrested Saturday. Both are facing capital murder charges. The affidavit lists at least one other person who police said Wednesday has not yet been arrested in the case.

Gaines and Simmons remained in the Dallas County jail Tuesday. Simmons is being held on $1 million bail, while Gaines’ bail was listed at $2 million. It was not immediately clear if they had attorneys.

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According to the Dallas police affidavit, about 5:11 a.m. July 14, Reynosa and three others were walking in the 2400 block of North Houston Street, near Oak Lawn’s Victory Park area, where they were approached by multiple people driving by in a sedan. A witness told police a girl in the car began talking to them as they walked, causing them to stop, the affidavit said.

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A girl then exited the car, came up to Reynosa and asked him to give her his phone so she could put in her name and Instagram information, the affidavit said. While this was happening, the sedan drove south about half a block and dropped off two males, before coming back to the group, the affidavit said.

A second girl exited the car and then began talking to Reynosa and the three witnesses, “distracting” the group, the affidavit said. The two males then approached the group on foot, and Reynosa and the witnesses then got nervous and tried to run away, the affidavit said.

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The group split up and the two males chased Reynosa into the intersection of Houston Street and Nowitzki Way. As they were chasing him, one of the males shot Reynosa in the back and he fell to the ground, the affidavit said.

One of the males then took Reynosa’s phone, and they got into the car and drove away, the affidavit said.

Police said officers responded a few minutes after the shooting and found Reynosa lying in the 2500 block of North Houston Street. Reynosa was taken to a hospital, where he died.

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Later, officers located the suspects’ vehicle, which the affidavit said had been reported stolen during a carjacking earlier the same day. After a short chase, the group abandoned the car and fled on foot.

One of the minors was arrested by officers after the chase, the affidavit said. The girl told police the group had been driving around looking for people to rob and had tried to rob another person in the same area where Reynosa was shot and killed, the affidavit said.

The day after the shooting, the second girl turned herself into police, the affidavit said. Police said they would not be releasing the names of the minors.

The shooting was also captured on surveillance footage, the affidavit said.

According to Simmons’ arrest-warrant affidavit, police contacted his family July 19 and they agreed to bring Simmons in the following day for an interview with police. Simmons refused to make a statement to police, but investigators obtained Ring camera footage showing Simmons, Gaines and the third male leaving the house just after midnight and returning about 7:25 a.m.

In the Ring video, Simmons was wearing the same clothes he was wearing at the time of the shooting, the affidavit said.

One other person, listed in the affidavit as the driver of the car, has not been arrested, according to Dallas police.

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