Global Courant 2023-04-18 17:42:01
A second teen has been charged with kidnapping several migrants and allegedly holding them captive for several days in a Houston hotel before they were rescued by FBI agents during a standoff that ended in the shooting of another suspect, authorities said Monday.
Demarcus Celestine, 17, was charged with three counts of aggravated kidnapping on Saturday, according to court documents.
His arrest was made public on Monday by a tweet from the FBI’s Houston office, which stated that Celestine had been arrested by FBI agents and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston.
Celestine, who appeared in court Monday, was still tied up on bonds totaling $300,000.
A lawyer for Celestine did not immediately call back or email asking for comment.
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Authorities claim the abduction began March 18 in neighboring Waller County when three migrants who had been traveling on Interstate 10 were stopped and forced out of a vehicle.
The migrants’ driver may have called 911 and notified the Waller County Sheriff’s Office of the abduction, authorities said. The sheriff’s office later worked with the FBI to find the migrants.
The FBI works at the scene of a March 23, 2023 shooting in Houston. Another teenager has been accused of kidnapping several migrants and allegedly holding them hostage in a hotel for several days. The FBI rescued the migrants, but killed one of the suspects during a confrontation. (Ralph Green/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)
Prosecutors allege Celestine took the migrants — two women and a man — at gunpoint to the hotel in north Houston, “where he held (them) under threat of death by firearm and sent messages to relatives bringing money. in exchange for their release,” according to court records.
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Celestine, along with two other suspects, is accused of “using physical force” against the migrants who were detained for days.
A person familiar with the case previously told The Associated Press that the kidnappers were paid after they demanded money, but then asked for more money. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, also said that at one point the kidnappers killed the family of one of the migrants, who had all entered the US illegally from Mexico. sent a video. show them beating an older man.
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On March 23, five days after the migrants were kidnapped, FBI agents rescued the migrants from the hotel. One of the suspects, later identified as Alberto Montes II, 20, was fatally shot. Montes’ parents told KTRK earlier this month that they are still seeking answers from authorities about why their son was fatally shot. The FBI investigation into the shooting is still ongoing, agency spokesman Connor Hagan said.
Another suspect, 17-year-old Josiah Jackson, has been charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping. Jackson remained trapped on bonds totaling $200,000.
