Robbers who killed 18-year-old in Fort Worth shooting had inside man, affidavit alleges

Four suspects in the killing of 18-year-old John Paul Morin entered the victim’s Fort Worth home, where they planned to rob him and “knew where everything was,” an arrest warrant affidavit says. A fifth suspect was already inside the house communicating with the other robbers, according to the affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram.

Police said the suspects broke into Morin’s home on Aug. 28. After shooting Morin, the assailants left the house in the 3600 block of College Avenue and fled in a car, investigators said.

Morin died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Marvin Battles, 19; Kelton Douglas, 17; Keavion Douglas, 21; Fernando Fajardo-Martinez, 19; and Jamal Sanders, 17, were all arrested and face charges of capital murder in the shooting.

Morin’s girlfriend, who lived with him at the location of the shooting, told police that “several masked males” who were armed with guns entered the residence. She also told police that one of the masked suspects shot Morin while she was lying next to him on a bed, according to the affidavit.

A neighbor provided police with video that captured and identified the suspects’ vehicle as a white 2010 Ford Fusion.

Another neighbor told police that there were four masked people with guns who went into Morin’s home, according to the affidavit.

Police also reviewed Instagram profiles of two of the suspects, including one referred to as “Scarrface,” later identified as Sanders. Detectives believe Sanders was speaking via Facetime with a man — later identified as Battles — who was inside Morin’s home, telling Sanders when it would be a “good time” to rob the residence, the affidavit says.

In an interview with police, Keavion Douglas initially told homicide detectives that his brother, Kelton, borrowed the Ford Fusion, the affidavit states. He eventually told police that he drove his brother and two of the other suspects to Morin’s home to commit a robbery, according to the document.

Keavion also told police he drove by Morin’s home several times before the robbery. At first, he said he was dropped off a block away from Morin’s home and Sanders drove away with Kelton and another suspect, who police later identified as Fajardo-Martinez.

Keavion said that when he was later picked up by he same vehicle, he learned that his brother, Kelton, shot Morin during the robbery, the affidavit states.

According to Keavion’s interview with police, he and the other suspects were told Morin slept with a gun under his pillow and Kelton believed Morin was reaching for it.

Police were told that Keavion was seen removing the license plates off the suspects’ car, according to the affidavit. Keavion told police he removed them because he was scared.

The affidavit says a man later identified as Battles was seen loading a black tote into an SUV. The SUV drove away from Morin’s home with Battles and two women, the affidavit says.

Battles confirmed to police that he was inside Morin’s home at the time of the robbery and that four masked men also entered, the affidavit states. Battles told police that one of the masked suspects grabbed him and took him into the room where Morin was and threw him on the floor. He said he was on the floor when he heard gunshots. He also admitted to calling his cousin and leaving with a tote bag full of marijuana before police arrived, according to the affidavit.

Battles ended the interview when detectives asked him whether he set up the robbery, police said.

Officers found several fired cartridge casings on the floor and a large quantity of marijuana in the room where Morin was found shot, police said in the affidavit.

In a follow-up interview with Keavion Douglas, he told police that he did not get dropped off a block away from the scene of the robbery, as he originally said. Instead, he admitted he was inside Morin’s home during the crime and that he heard a gunshot, according to the affidavit. His brother, Kelton, admitted to shooting Morin, Keavion told police.

Kelton was armed with a handgun, Sanders was armed with an assault rifle, and Fajardo-Martinez was armed with a small rifle, according to the affidavit.

Keavion told police that the suspects’ plan was to run inside Morin’s home and rob him because they knew where everything was located.

Keavion dropped off Sanders and Fajardo-Martinez at a Fort Worth apartment complex, The Retreat at River Ranch, police said.

Another witness told police that Sanders and Fajardo-Martinez were at her apartment all day on Aug. 28, the day of the shooting, and never left, the affidavit states. The witness told police that they would briefly leave the apartment to smoke and that Sanders left on Aug. 29 to go to Houston.

In surveillance video obtained by police, a white Ford Fusion, the suspect vehicle, was seen entering the The Retreat at River Ranch at around 11:25 p.m. on Aug. 28, and then leaving just two minutes later, according to the affidavit.

At around 12:40 p.m., Sanders and Fajardo-Martinez were seen entering the apartment complex on foot, police said.

The victim’s family organized a fundraiser and are looking to raise $10,000 to help cover the funeral costs for Morin, whose family called him “Peezy.”

A family member, Selsa Morin, wrote on the Give A Hand fundraising site that John Paul was a “very lovable brother, son, and grandson.”