Alvin Charles McKnight, Jr.
The Upshur County Grand Jury has indicted Alvin Charles McKnight, Jr., on a capital murder charge in connection with the Nov. 4 shooting deaths of two sisters.
McKnight’s was among 21 indictments, six of them sealed, which jurors returned in Gilmer Feb. 1, Byrd’s office announced Feb. 7. The suspect remained in county jail under $5 million bond.
McKnight, 41, of Gilmer, is charged with shooting Mandy Ray, 35, and Dermetrica Dashaunda Waters, 37, at Ray’s home in the 2800 block of south U.S. 271, near Bluebird Road south of Gilmer.
The case is considered capital murder, punishable in Texas only by lethal injection or life imprisonment without parole, because it involved killing more than one person.
McKnight was captured by San Bernardino, Calif., city police Nov. 15 when he exited a bus there. Authorities in Texas had learned he was aboard the bus, alerted California authorities, and he was returned to Upshur County in early December.
Byrd said last Thursday he wasn’t announcing yet whether he would seek the death penalty “as the investigation is still not complete and I still have not received the final case from law enforcement.”
McKnight is scheduled to be formally arraigned in 115th District Court on Tuesday, Byrd said.
In another matter, one of the sealed indictments returned Feb. 1 charges the unnamed defendant with two counts of manslaughter and two counts of criminal negligent homicide. (The identity of anyone charged in the sealed indictments wasn’t disclosed because no arrests had been made in those cases, Byrd said).
Defendants, charges and dates of the alleged offenses in the open indictments were as follows, his office reported:
Trent Jordan Sasser, 40, of Gladewater, possession of controlled substance (methamhetamine) last July 2. He was released on $25,000 bond.
Allen Ray Reppond, 60, of Gilmer, was charged in one indictment with both aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child last Aug. 1, and in a separate indictment with indecency with a child last June 1
A $200,000 bond was set on the assault charge, but he remained in county jail “on other charges.”
Derrick Walker Renfro, 42, of Jefferson, injury to a disabled individual on Dec. 31, 2022. He was released on $50,000 bond.
Kenneth Kristopher Ferguson, 31, of Gilmer, injury to a disabled individual on Dec. 31, 2022. He also was released on $50,000 bail.
Britoni Rose Morse, 29, of Ore City, possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) last Oct. 20. Although she posted $5,000 bond, she was re-arrested and remained in county jail on a “release of surety” (meaning that whoever posted her bond went off it.)
Joel Glenn Hervey, 67, of Bogata, driving while intoxicated–subsequent offense–repeat offender on March 2, 2022. He was freed on $10,000 bond.
Debra Lynn John, 56, of Gilmer, possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) on March 22, 2022. She was released on $20,000 bond.
Kellene Sue Harris, 65, of Gilmer, possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) on Aug. 25, 2022. She was freed on $25,000 bond.
Bruce Wayne Clark, 58, of Winona, was charged in separate indictments with possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) on April 6, 2022 and June 25, 2022.
He was freed on $5,000 bond on the older charge, $10,000 bond on the later one.
Brandon Lee Wilson, 44, of Gilmer, possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) last Nov. 19. He remained in county jail under $35,000 bond.
Letraveon Kieran Arness Buchanan, 26, of Arlington, assault/family violence–occlusion last Dec. 9. He remained in county jail under $10,000 bond.
Jose Pablo Moreno, 48, of Gilmer, aggravated assault with deadly weapon on Jan. 1. He remained in county jail under $35,000 bond.
The sealed indictments, other than the one already mentioned, included one charging the defendant with both aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child.
The other sealed indictments included two for possession of controlled substance, and one each for delivery of controlled substance, and possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver. All involved methamphetamine.
– By Phillip Williams