Four people are in custody in connection with the robbery and murder of a man who was found dead in a motel room in Northeast Dallas last month.
The victim, 48-year-old Shaun Smith, was found dead on August 11 by a housekeeper at a motel in the 11500 block of Plano Road. Smith was found with his hands and feet tied behind his back, and the room was in disarray as if there had been a struggle, The Dallas Morning News reported.
According to the police affidavit cited by DMN, Smith had checked into the motel the previous day, accompanied by a woman later identified as Marissa Krystin Mitchell, 35. Video surveillance showed the two individuals coming and going from the hotel throughout the day in a vehicle registered to Mitchell.
Later in the evening on August 10, Smith and Mitchell were in the motel room when three persons arrived on the premises in a Ford 150 truck and entered Smith’s room. Shortly thereafter, Mitchell and another woman, later identified as 23-year-old Deanna Marie Palmer, left the motel in Mitchell’s car. Soon after that, two men left the room and drove away in the Ford 150.
Police interviewed Mitchell, who told investigators that Smith was carrying a large sum of cash. She said she left the motel after having an argument with Smith. She identified the two men who entered the room by their first names only and gave them a phone number for one of the suspects. Police later determined the suspects were 56-year-old Byron Nelson and 27-year-old Jared Russell.
Russell and Palmer were found together and arrested on August 28 and are currently being held in the Dallas County Jail. The Ford 150 seen in the video was registered in Russell’s name. Palmer told police that she, Russell, and Nelson had been informed that Smith was carrying a large amount of cash and that Mitchell had called them to the hotel to rob the victim.
Russell reportedly admitted to assaulting Smith, punching him in the ribs, putting him in a chokehold until he was unconscious, and then taking money from his pocket, according to the affidavit. He said that Nelson then tied the victim up using a phone charger cord, and then the two men later met up with the two women to divide the stolen money.
Nelson was arrested on September 17 by U.S. Marshals and is being held in the Gregg County Jail. The phone number that Mitchell provided to police was linked to Nelson’s phone.
Mitchell was arrested on August 30 in Austin by the Austin Police Department, and she is currently in the Dallas County Jail.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Smith died at about 7:50 a.m. on August 11, about four hours before his body was discovered. The autopsy revealed the victim had injuries to his head and broken bones. The medical examiner said that these injuries, combined with the restraining of the victim’s hands and feet, led to his death.
All four suspects in the case are facing capital murder charges, and Russell is also facing a robbery charge.
Smith’s murder in District 10, which is currently represented by Council Member Kathy Stewart, was one of seven homicides recorded in the city of Dallas in August, according to the City of Dallas Crime Analytics dashboard. So far this year, 139 murders have been reported in Dallas.
The Dallas Police Department has been hampered in its efforts to fight crime by a chronic shortage of police officers, fielding only about 3,000, despite a City analysis that advised roughly 4,000 officers are needed. In addition, DPD has been working with a budget of only about $654 million this fiscal year, far less than that of other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
In nearby Fort Worth, where the city center is patrolled by dedicated police units and private security guards, the downtown crime rate is exponentially lower than in Downtown Dallas.
