TEXARKANA, Texas -- A man entered an innocent plea Monday in a fatal shooting earlier this year at a shopping center.
Charles Jerome Carter, 30, is accused in the Jan. 12 shooting of Nichlos Muldrow, 29, of Hope in the Oaklawn Shopping Center parking lot in the 2700 block of New Boston Road. A Bowie County grand jury indicted Carter on a murder charge last month.
The grand jury declined to indict a second man, Marquis Thompson, who was initially charged in the case. Thompson is being held in the Bowie County jail on unrelated charges.
Muldrow was shot in the chest and leg while seated behind the wheel of his 2004 Cadillac in the parking lot of Harbor Freight, according to probable-cause affidavits. A man wearing a black jacket and jeans was seen exiting a black Nissan Rogue Sport and getting into the passenger seat of the Cadillac before the shooting and running from the Cadillac to the Nissan carrying a suitcase after the shooting.
The suitcase was found empty in the parking lot and recovered by police.
Muldrow attempted to drive away after being shot, but his car hit a tree in the parking lot of a nearby Whataburger, according to the affidavit. Muldrow died of his injuries at a hospital.
Through witness statements and video surveillance, investigators determined that Muldrow and the man who got in the passenger seat argued before two shots were fired.
An LG cellphone was found along with the empty suitcase in the parking lot and the suspected murder weapon, a Smith & Wesson pistol, was found in the Cadillac, the affidavit said. Shell casings that matched ammunition still loaded in the pistol were found in the Cadillac as well.
The gun's serial number led them to a residence in the 200 block of Citation, where Carter's girlfriend lived in Texarkana. In the driveway, investigators spotted a black 2017 Nissan Rogue Sport when they went there Jan. 14, two days after the shooting, according to the affidavit.
The girlfriend told investigators that she routinely let Carter use the SUV and the pistol, the affidavit said. Photos of Carter were observed during a search of the residence, and investigators noted that the background image on the cellphone found in the parking lot with the suitcase was of the same man.
Also found during a search of the Citation Street house was the box the firearm came in, according to the affidavit. The girlfriend admitted to attempting to report the firearm as stolen shortly after the shooting.
A photo posted on Carter's Facebook page and observed by investigators depicts him holding a gun that appears to be the same weapon recovered from Muldrow's Cadillac, the affidavit said.
Carter is being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at $1 million.