At least six people arrested for their alleged involvement in a nonfatal July 4 shooting outside a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado were moved to a jail in Wichita Falls, according to jail records and one of the defendants.
It comes after the six defendants — Savanna Batten, Joy Gibson, Maricela Rueda, Lynette Sharp, Elizabeth Soto and Rebecca Morgan — made their first appearances at the U.S. Northern District of Texas Court in Fort Worth Monday.
Eight other defendants appeared in court Tuesday: Autumn Hill, Nathan Baumann, Zachary Evetts, Meagan Morris, Benjamin Song, John Phillip Thomas, Ines Soto and Seth Sikes. KERA News has reached out to their attorneys to determine whether they'll be moved.
Attorneys for Rueda and Morgan made requests for preliminary hearings at Monday's hearing. Their next court dates are Sept. 30.
Legal counsel for the defendants who appeared Monday declined to comment to KERA News.
Rueda, one of the people who appeared Monday, told KERA News in a phone call last week there were no plans for a shooting to occur that night.
"It's really scary because I heard the shots from afar," Rueda said as she recalled that night. "And immediately what came out of my mouth is, 'what is happening?'"
Rueda said the protest was intended to show support for those being held inside the ICE facility.
Evetts' attorney Patrick McLain said next week's hearing will be an opportunity for prosecutors to prove why probable cause exists to charge the defendants and why they should be kept in jail while awaiting trial.
But McLain said he hasn't seen any evidence demonstrating that. Evetts has been a good citizen all his life, McLain said.
"He understands the government's concerns, but he's very distressed that somehow because he was participating in a lawful protest outside a government facility, that he is being detained without being presented any evidence against him," McLain said. "Or any understanding how the government thinks that he is at all implicated in the charges that were in the complaint."
Evetts may also be transferred to another detention center soon, McLain said, but he's not sure where.
Leigh Davis, Ines Soto's attorney who was appointed Tuesday, told KERA News Soto waived a detention hearing but will be back in court for a preliminary hearing. Davis will be looking carefully into how exactly the U.S. Justice Department alleges Soto was involved in the July 4 incident, he said.
"Obviously these are serious charges and complex charges," Davis said. "We're looking forward to diving into the details to see what exactly each defendant did in this case."
Court documents unsealed in July allege as many as 12 people dressed in all black were shooting fireworks towards the Prairieland Detention Center July 4 when correctional officers called dispatch.
When an Alvarado police officer arrived, several people began to flee the scene on foot and ignore verbal commands, according to a most recent complaint.
A person in the woods then opened fire, hitting the Alvarado officer in the neck, according to court records. It’s unclear who among those arrested is accused of opening fire.
An original complaint stated two people, one wearing a black mask and another wearing a green mask, shot at correctional officers and the Alvarado officer 20-30 times.
But according to a recent complaint obtained by KERA News, new evidence suggests there was just one shooter that night, and 11 shell casings were recovered from the scene, “leading investigators to believe the initial 20-30 shell casings to be an inaccurate amount of spent rounds fired.”
The officer has since recovered, according to court records, but it’s not clear where he was shot. The original complaint says the officer was shot in the neck, and a separate complaint says the officer was shot “in the neck and/or upper back area.” The most recent complaint states the officer was struck twice but does not specify where he was shot.
At least 17 people have now been arrested in connection with the shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center.
Ten were arrested the night of the shooting and were identified as Meagan Morris, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Nathan Baumann, Zachary Evetts, Joy Gibson, Maricela Rueda, Seth Sikes, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto, according to court records. All but one are charged with three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer and three counts of discharging a firearm in relation to and in furtherance of a crime of violence.
An 11th person was arrested soon after, identified in court documents as Daniel Rolando Sanchez, who was charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence in an official proceeding.
Later that month, former marine reservist Benjamin Hanil Song was arrested and federally charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of discharging a firearm during a violent act from a shooting. Song also faces state charges of engaging in organized criminal activity, aggravated assault on a public servant, and aiding in commission of terrorism, jail records show.
Two others, John Thomas and Lynette Sharp, were also arrested after allegedly helping Song flee and evade arrest, according to officials.
Thomas was charged with smuggling of persons and later federally charged with accessory after the fact. Sharp was charged with hindering prosecution of terrorism, then later charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, assault causing bodily injury to a family member and federally charged with accessory after the fact.
Arrest affidavits and criminal complaints reviewed by KERA News allege three others were later arrested and accused of helping another detainee evade arrest and remove evidence.
Susan Kent, Rebecca Morgan and Dario Sanchez were most recently detained in Johnson County.
Court records claim on the morning of July 5, Kent and Sharp went to the Johnson County Jail attempting to get information on the people arrested the night before.
The documents allege Thomas later met up with Sharp, Kent and two other unnamed individuals that day at a Days Inn hotel in Cleburne to discuss what happened and how to get Song — who was on the run from the FBI for a week in connection with the shooting — out of the area. Thomas then allegedly picked Song up from Alvarado, where court documents say he had been hiding in the woods since the night of the shooing, and transported him to a home Thomas was housesitting in Dallas.
Thomas then passed him off to Morgan outside of a Home Depot in Dallas, according to court records, and Song’s last known location was at Morgan’s home before he was arrested.
In court records Thomas said he only knew Kent, Sharp and Morgan under monikers and did not know their real names. Sanchez was part of group chats on the messaging platforms Signal and Discord that discussed plans to “conduct an operation” at the Prairieland Detention Center between July 3 and 4, according to court documents.
A criminal complaint filed July 14 claims a search warrant at Thomas’ house July 8 revealed he knew and lived with Song since September 2024, helped plan the shooting, picked up Song and helped transport him afterwards.
Thomas allegedly went to Dario Sanchez’s home the following day and told him FBI agents has taken his electronic devices, and that’s when court documents say Thomas asked him to remove him from all group chats. Thomas watched Sanchez do so and, “told others about removing him from discord and signal chats,” court records read. It’s not clear who Sanchez told to remove him from other chats.
Thomas was arrested the next day. Sanchez was arrested July 15 and later bailed out, public records show. But Sanchez was arrested once again Monday for allegedly tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering the prosecution of terrorism. His bond is $1 million.
Morgan was arrested July 15 and Kent was arrested Aug. 7. Morgan faces charges of hindering with prosecution of terrorism and has a U.S. Marshal hold. Dario Sanchez is facing a tampering or fabricating physical evidence charge. Kent is facing engaging in organized criminal activity and hindering prosecution of terrorism charges, according to jail records.
Kent was also part of the DFW Support Committee, consisting of family members and friends of the other 14 people allegedly involved in the shooting, the group wrote in a statement.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter, and Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA’s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope at privera@kera.org or Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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