Capital murder suspect shot 2 men in Fort Worth, another victim in Forest Hill, police say
Over four weeks in July and August, two 19-year-old men in Fort Worth and a publicly unidentified victim in Forest Hill were allegedly shot dead by a suspect whose involvement police described in an arrest warrant affidavit.
Labertrand Bell, 18, was on Aug. 13 booked on suspicion of capital murder of multiple persons in the July 19 Fort Worth case and on suspicion of capital murder by terroristic threat in connection with an Aug. 7 homicide in Forest Hill.
The first of the killings, in a house in the 2800 block of Lulu Street in Fort Worth, was motivated by robbery, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Before they were shot to death, Jesus Rodriguez and Manuel Guzman were hanging out at the house smoking marijuana, and Guzman was trying to find a buyer for his surplus supply, according to interviews that Fort Worth Police Department Detective Joey McAnally and Detective Paul Vega conducted with three witnesses.
Guzman found a prospective buyer in Bell, the affidavit suggests.
A man who police allege is Bell arrived in a silver sport utility vehicle in which there were at least two other people. Bell went into the house, looked at the product, then went back outside to get money, the affidavit suggests.
When Bell returned to the house, he tried to rob Guzman of the weed, and Guzman and Bell got into a gunfight, the affidavit suggests.
Surveillance video of the suspect’s vehicle, its license plate, GPS tracking of Bell required as a condition of his bond in another case, and a witness photo array identification supported the arrest in the Fort Worth case, according to the affidavit.
On Aug. 11, a Forest Hill police captain informed Fort Worth police that Bell was a suspect in the Aug. 7 killing. A Forest Hill police spokesperson did not respond to a reporter’s request for information about the homicide.
Family members told the Star-Telegram that Corey Wallace Sr., 45, was the victim in the Aug. 7 killing and that he was shot in a robbery at his home.
Bell was arrested at a house in the 4500 block of Griggs Court in Fort Worth. He was being held on Tuesday in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at more than $1 million.
According to court documents, at the time of the recent shootings, Bell had been released from jail on bond after he was indicted in June on aggravated assault. In that case, he is accused of shooting a person in Fort Worth in January.
Staff writer Nicole Lopez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 21, 2023 at 7:20 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct that police have not publicly identified the victim in the Forest Hill homicide.
