FORNEY, Texas — A Forney ISD student arrested and charged with the murder of Allen High School student Marquel Ellis, Jr. on Saturday night in Plano is also a suspect in an aggravated robbery that took place in Windmill Farms just four days before, according to authorities.
FORNEY, Texas — A Forney ISD student arrested and charged with the murder of Allen High School student Marquel Ellis, Jr. on Saturday night in Plano is also a suspect in an aggravated robbery that took place in Windmill Farms just four days before, according to authorities.
According to officials, last Monday, November 11, 2019, at approximately 6:25 p.m., Kaufman County Pct. 2 Deputy Constables responded to reports of gunfire in the 2100 block of Fresia Lane in the Windmill Farms Neighborhood.
The call was handed over to the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office where investigators learned that two teenage males had set up a juvenile victim using a social media application under the false premise to sell some athletic shoes. When the juvenile victim arrived to make the transaction, he was robbed at gunpoint.
As inForney.com previously reported, one juvenile was taken into custody shortly thereafter in connection with the robbery but a second suspect remained at large. Multiple law enforcement officials have now confirmed that they have identified Kemond Smith, 17, of Forney, as that second suspect in the case.
Smith has been in police custody since his arrest on Monday at Forney ISD's alternative campus, the Forney Learning Academy, by the Plano Police Department and charged with murder. Witnesses tell inForney.com that Smith was “cold” to faculty and classmates on Monday morning prior to being apprehended.
Plano police say on Saturday, around 10 p.m., they responded to a reported shooting at a house party in the 3200 block of Peachtree Lane where they discovered 16-year-old Marquel Ellis Jr suffering of an apparent gunshot wound. Ellis, a sophomore at Allen High School, was transported to an area hospital where he later died.
Police say the house party was full of teens when several were kicked out of the house — only to return and open fire at the partygoers.
Since Smith’s arrest the Plano Police Department issued an additional murder warrant for Christian Treyshun Hill, 18, of Dallas, in connection to the case. Hill surrendered himself to authorities on Thursday night.
Plano police said Hill and Smith were both seen there together at the party and asked to leave. They returned and 18 shots were fired from two different guns.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Hill, now at another party on the night of the shooting, told a witness he had shot at the party house.
Smith remains in custody in the Collin County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond. Collin County Sheriff’s office said Smith is not “available” for interviews, and his attorney also declined inForney.com’s request for comment.
A warrant, charging Smith in connection with the Nov. 11 aggravated robbery in Windmill Farms, was issued earlier today.