Warrant shows what led up to murders at Tyler apartment complex

TYLER — Two people were fatally shot in a car on March 23 after they were sent to do a gun trade and transaction at the Royal Crest Apartments in Tyler, according to court documents. According to our news partner KETK, warrants for Aaron Johnson, 20 of Tyler, and Nicholas Hudson, 18 of Malakoff, state that the two were in contact with each other to discuss Johnson trading an AR-15 assault rifle to Hudson in exchange for a Springfield XD 9mm pistol and $400 cash. Hudson coordinated for the transaction to happen in the parking lot of Royal Crest Apartments, according to the warrants. Hudson told police he rode with his associates, 19-year-old Donovan Dodd and 17-year-old Ladarius Jackson to the apartment complex. According to the warrant, Hudson later admitted he was aware the two were planning to rob Johnson after he gave them the AR-15. Johnson and an associate met with them at the apartment complex, where he got in the back passenger seat of their SUV for the transaction, with Dodd in the driver’s seat and Jackson in the passenger seat.

“Johnson said he passed the AR-15 to Dodd and then Jackson passed back a handful of currency, which Johnson tried to take. However, Jackson wouldn’t release the money,” the warrant said. According to the warrant, Jackson turned around with a Springfield XD 9mm pistol in his hand and shot Johnson in the thigh. Johnson then took the pistol from Jackson, the warrant said, and shot both Dodd and Jackson multiple times.

The warrant said Johnson then fled to a nearby home where he called for EMS due to the gunshot wound in his thigh.

The warrant said when police arrived at the scene, they found Dodd and Jackson dead in the car from multiple gunshot wounds. In addition, they found a 9mm pistol, 9mm pistol casings, an AR-15 on the ground next to the car, a second AR-15 in the back seat of the car and a stack of currency inside the car. Officers made contact with Hudson at the scene, who told them he was involved in the incident. “Hudson denied exiting the vehicle prior to the exchange, and insisted he fled the scene after the shooting stopped and Johnson fled,” the warrant said.

Johnson was booked into Smith County Jail on March 24 on charges of capital murder, and Hudson was booked into the jail for murder. Their bonds have been set at $2 million each.