Warrant: Arlington teen charged in shooting death of his two cousins
A 19-year-old is facing a capital murder charge in connection to shooting two of his cousins to death outside an Arlington apartment complex.
Julius Rollins, of Arlington, was arrested Tuesday on the suspicion of murder for 31-year-old Martell Brown and 21-year-old Jy’Tavious Fields, both of Farmerville, Louisiana, who were fatally shot on Jan. 7.
The shooting occurred around 8 p.m. in the 2100 block of Cypress Club Drive. Arlington police responded to the scene after a resident said they believed they heard gunshots and minutes later found two men unresponsive in the parking lot.
Rollins lived in the apartment complex where the shooting occurred, and Brown and Field, both cousins of Rollins, were visiting the teen, who was on parole for an aggravated robbery charge and wearing an ankle monitor, according to Rollins’ arrest warrant affidavit.
Days after the shooting, on Jan. 12, police interviewed Rollins who told them he was asleep during the murders and didn’t learn that his cousins died until the following morning.
“Julius’s cellular phone was later seized, at which time, Julius became uncooperative and belligerent,” the warrant said. “On Jan. 14, Julius cut off his ankle monitor and attempted to flee the state. He crashed the vehicle he was in, during which he was arrested for unrelated charges as well as his parole violation warrant. Julius was in possession of a second cellular phone, which was seized.”
After further investigation, police found messages that Rollins knew of the shooting prior to the morning after it occurred, and that the 19-year-old was trying to sell a firearm, “which ballistics would later identify as being a potential make and model of the murder weapon,” according to the warrant.
Information collected by Rollins’ ankle monitor also disproved that he was asleep during the shooting. A warrant for Rollins’ arrest was filed after investigators said the 19-year-old provided false accounts to police and attempted to flee the state.
“Julius has a criminal history including the aggravated robbery, which he currently is wanted for on a second parole violation warrant as of April 3,” the warrant read. “Recently he was charged with failing to ID a fugitive and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.”
Rollins was charged with capital murder on April 22 and was taken into custody the following day.
Arlington police said the motive for the shooting still remains unclear.
“We cannot and will not tolerate this kind of violence in our city,” said Chief of Police Al Jones. “I appreciate the tremendous amount of time and effort our homicide detectives put into working this case. It’s because of their tenacity that we were able to make this arrest.”
