KATY, TX (Covering Katy News) – A Port Arthur man faces two counts of capital murder in the January 21 fatal shooting of three people on Russet Leaf Trace near Clay and North Fry roads in unincorporated Katy.
Jaylon McIntyre, 25, is accused of murdering Nicholas King, and Ellesha Rice, both 24 years old. Court documents that are currently available provide no information on his motive. Michael Odobo, 24, was also shot to death. McIntyre has not been charged with capital murder in that case but prosecutors say charged could come later.
It's likely that prosecutors will seek the death penalty, but that decision will come later.
As part of a routine legal strategy, McIntyre was charged only with murdering two of the three victims, King and Rice. Prosecutors frequently employ this tactic so if McIntyre is found not guilty at trial, they can try him for the murder of Odobo and not violate his constitutional protections against being tried twice for the same crime.
The district attorney's office initially charged McIntyre with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on January 24. That charge allowed deputies to arrest and detain him while the investigation uncovers more facts. On January 31, he was charged with capital murder.
Dennis Spellman, Covering Katy News
Katy triple murder
Three people were shot and killed at this home on Russet Leaf Trace near Clay and North Fry roads on January 21, 2024.
Rice and King were reportedly planning a future together; she graduated from college in December recently and planned to attend law school, hoping to become a judge. King reportedly died next to Rice in the kitchen of the home where the shooting took place.
"There was a birthday party with at least 10 to 15 adults in the home," Harris County Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland told Covering Katy News.
People came to celebrate Odobo's birthday. Odobo was shot and transported to a local hospital, where he died.
"At approximately 2:14 a.m., Harris County sheriff's deputies responded to an in-progress life-in-danger call," Gilliland said.
It was a chaotic scene as deputies arrived. They had to help several shooting victims while also attempting to detain multiple witnesses for questioning. Deputies quickly realized that there had been gunfire inside and outside the home, and some people left before police arrived. King and Rice died at the scene, and ambulances transported three men to three different hospitals.
The investigation is ongoing. McIntyre was denied bond and remains at the Harris County Jail.