HOUSTON — Many KHOU viewers and Facebook page visitors still have questions after the arrest of a suspect in Jazmine Barnes’ murder.
One common one: What happened to the driver in the red pickup truck seen on surveillance video near the scene?
On Monday afternoon, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez verifies investigators have not spoken to this man but would still like to talk to him, saying his truck was near Barnes’ family’s car at a stoplight near a Wal-Mart shortly before the murder.
“They’re most likely a witness to all this, either by sight or sound, because we don’t know exactly at that point when things went down if they were already a little bit further ahead or what happened, but we’d like to know who that person in that infamous red truck is,” said Sheriff Gonzalez.
So KHOU can verify that pickup driver is still out there.
Another common question: Is there any connection between suspect Eric Black, Jr. and Jazmine Barnes’ family?
Based on information provided Monday by law enforcement officials, KHOU can verify that there’s no officially confirmed information that suggests that.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that there’s a connection to this in terms of the family dynamics or anything like that, so our focus has been on the one individual that we’ve arrested,” said Sheriff Gonzalez.
The sheriff said investigators do not think the two parties knew each other. He also said the family is cooperating, and he’s not aware of rumors that Barnes’ mother is friends on Facebook with Black or a second suspect.
During suspect Eric Black Junior’s court appearance Monday morning, prosecutors said Barnes’ murder was a case of mistaken identity.
Sheriff Gonzalez also said it’s still unclear who Black and a possible second suspect were allegedly targeting, or how many more people could be charged.
The sheriff says the case is still an open investigation, and investigators are seeking information from the public. Anyone with information is asked to call Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-221-6000 or CrimeStoppers at 713-222-TIPS.