A man and woman from Huntsville have been indicted on charges of alleged tampering with evidence, allegations that stem from the Nov. 13 shooting death of a Huntsville man.
Elem Wynne III, 35, and Brooke Louise Rice, 28, were indicted by a Hunt County grand jury Feb. 3. Each faces one count of tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair.
Eric Lamont O’Bryant of Royse City had been identified by police as a suspect in the shooting death of Larry Deshaun Baker of Huntsville. The shooting took place at O’Bryant’s residence in Royse City.
However, police did not immediately arrest him, and no charges were filed against O’Bryant, who was later found dead at his home in Royse City on Nov. 19. Police saw no signs of foul play in O’Bryant’s death, according to Aldridge.
Based on eye witness accounts and physical evidence, police believe the following events occurred leading up to the shooting of Baker:
On Nov. 12, Rice had been dropped off at O’Bryant’s residence to stay the weekend. In the early morning hours on Nov. 13, she called two men from the Huntsville area.
One was identified as Baker, and the other was identified as Wynne. She asked them to come pick her up. At about 5:45 a.m., the two arrived at O’Bryant’s home.
For unknown reasons, the two were armed with a shotgun and a baseball bat and forced their way into the home, according to the police investigation.
O’Bryant, who was armed with a handgun, fired at the two as they were entering the doorway to his home. Baker was struck multiple times and he exited the home and collapsed in the driveway, where he was found dead by responding officers. Meanwhile, Wynne and Rice fled the scene.
A witness called 911 and gave a description of their vehicle. While fleeing the scene, they threw a shotgun out of the car into a grassy area on FM 35, which was later recovered by officers.
After a traffic stop, Wynne and Brooke Rice were taken into custody without incident. They were arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence and booked into the Hunt County Detention Center, according to police.
Wynne and Rice remained in custody at the Hunt County Detention Center on Tuesday morning, each being held on $20,000 bond on the tampering counts. Wynne also faces charges out of Walker County.