Two of Texas’ top ten most wanted offenders are back in custody.
36-year-old Dewarren Donta Knowles was taken into custody on August 17 in San Antonio in a collaborative investigation effort between the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, DPS Special Agents, and San Antonio Police Department working for the Texas Anti-Gang Center.
Knowles has a history of violent crimes, including sexual assault of a child, assault causing bodily injury to a family member, theft of property, terroristic threat, disorderly conduct, evading arrest, and more.
Knowles is a known affiliate with the Tree Top Piru Bloods Gang. He has been on Texas’ most wanted list since February after Harris County issued a warrant for his arrest for sexual assault of a child.
A $5,000 reward was offered for any tip that led to Knowles’s arrest through Texas Crime Stoppers; however, no tip was received, so the reward will not be paid.
43-year-old Antioneo Ryen Sims was also taken into custody after being on the run since January.
Sims was taken into custody in Houston on August 27 thanks to tip information received by DPS Special Agents and Troopers.
In 2008, Sims spent three years confinement in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison following the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.
Sims has been wanted out of Harris County since January when he failed to comply with sex offender registration requirements. He has additional criminal charges, such as burglary of habitation and theft of property.
Sims was on the list of the top ten most wanted sex offenders in Texas.
Two fugitives on the list have been captured, including Sims and 41-year-old Louis Ray Keeton, who was captured in Beaumont, Texas.
Keeton is known as a high-risk sex offender affiliated with the Bloods gang. He has a long list of charges, such as aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault, assault causing bodily injury of a family member, unlawful possession of a dangerous drug, and more.
Keeton had been wanted since December 2023 after failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
The remaining eight on the Texas top 10 most wanted sex offenders list are as follows:
- Cecil Colby Smith, a 42-year-old Dallas man wanted for failure to register as a sex offender and child abuse by injury. Smith has previous charges of murder, aggravated sexual assault of a child, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and deadly conduct.
- Marcos Christopher Alonzo, a 47-year-old from Hutchins wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Alonzo has previous charges of indecency with a child by contact, assault causing bodily injury of a family member, escape from custody, and burglary of a building.
- Robert Gonzales, a 48-year-old from Waco wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Gonzales has previous charges of capital murder, aggravated sexual assault of a child, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and evading arrest.
- Cesar Soto-Bolanos, a 28-year-old Edinburg man wanted for two counts of sexual assault, indecency with a child by exposure, failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, failure to identify, and possession of marijuana.
- Gregory Jon Pecina Jr., a 40-year-old man from Grand Prairie wanted for failure to register as a sex offender, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and parole violation of his original offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
- Salomon Olivas Marquez, a 61-year-old man from Odessa wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements from his previous conviction of aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by sexual contact and by exposure.
- Joey Ray Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Houston man wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Gonzalez has previous charges of sexual assault of a child, failure to register as a sex offender, and theft of property.
- John Edward Ashley, a 36-year-old Fort Worth man wanted for failure to register as a sex offender and probation violation from his original offense of sexual assault of a child.
Tips can be submitted to the DPS by calling the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS or submitting through the DPS Mobile App. All tips are anonymous.