Man accused of murder in Arlington slaying. He says he was just listening to music.
On the night that he stabbed a man to death inside a car at a gas pump in Arlington, Ricky Ensley showed up at an acquaintance’s motel room two blocks away, police allege.
He was sweating and said that he was in trouble and that something bad had happened. Ensley said he “stabbed someone at the RaceTrac.”
The acquaintance told Ensley that he needed to leave.
Three weeks later, the acquaintance shared a description of the encounter with police, using only Ensley’s first name, according to a summary of the investigation that is contained in an arrest warrant affidavit supporting Ensley’s arrest on Tuesday on suspicion of murder.
Ensley stabbed 59-year-old Roberto Lopez in his chest on July 6, Arlington police said. Lopez walked into the RaceTrac convenience store in the 3300 block of East Division Street and collapsed. The motive for the killing is not clear, police said.
A detective interviewed Ensley, and he denied stabbing Lopez. At first, he said he did not know anything about the case.
When the detective told Ensley, 55, that surveillance video had recorded him, the suspect said that he was waiting for a ride at the the convenience store after buying crack cocaine at the Roadway Inn next door, according to the affidavit. Ensley said that he saw a man he did not know sitting in a car.
Ensley said that he walked over and got in the front passenger side in order to listen to music.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 5:45 PM.
