A Lubbock County grand jury returned indictments against three people accused in the July beating death of a 60-year-old man at a downtown motel.
Shanquetia Lingard, 35, David Brice Thomas, 37, and Trashod Willis, 37, are each charged with murder in the July 26 death of Arnold Tumlinson Jr., whose body was found in front of a motel room in the Baymont Inn and Suites in the 600 block of Avenue Q.
Their charges stem from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation that began about 1:50 a.m. after police officers responded to a check subject call at the motel.
Tumlinson was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center where he died, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Investigating a deadly assault at a Lubbock motel
According to a Lubbock police news release, an initial investigation
indicated that Tumlinson was in an argument with another person who assaulted him before fleeing the scene.
However, investigators obtained video from the motel's security cameras, which reportedly captured Tumlinson's assault by three people, according to the arrest affidavit.
The video reportedly showed Tumlinson exiting a room followed by two men and a woman.
The first man following Tumlinson, later identified as Willis, appeared to be bald and wore a light-colored shirt, dark pants and light-colored shoes.
The woman, later identified as Lingard, wore black clothing and the second man, later identified as Thomas, appeared to be bald or had short hair and appeared to wear a dark-colored shirt and light-colored shorts.
The video appeared to show the man identified as Willis reportedly hitting Tumlinson, who falls to the ground. Willis could reportedly be seen placing his hands around Tumlinson's waist area.
Meanwhile, the woman identified as Lingard could reportedly be seen picking something off the ground near Tumlinson before kicking him in the face.
The man identified as Thomas could reportedly be seen hitting Tumlinson with a long, thin reflective object.
The three left the scene. However, investigators found more security camera video that showed the second man returning to move Tumlinson's body, the affidavit states.
Investigators identified Thomas as the attacker who reportedly struck Tumlinson with the unidentified object after speaking with two witnesses at the motel, which included a woman who called police.
The woman reportedly told investigators she was invited to the room where Tumlinson's body was found by a man she knew as "DLock," who also went by David.
Investigators learned that the room was under Thomas' name.
She told investigators that Thomas was also with another man and a woman.
She reportedly said that at some time after dark, Thomas called her over to the east side of the motel where she saw an older man on the ground with blood on him.
Security camera video shows the woman approach the man identified as Thomas before the two pass each other. Thomas could be seen picking up an object where Tumlinson was lying, the affidavit states.
The woman reportedly said Thomas told her to call 911 and she returned to the motel room and used another person's phone.
Meanwhile, officers learned that three people who were possibly involved in the case were in another room at the motel.
Investigators spoke to a woman who was in the room who reportedly said three people - two men and a woman - entered her room and told her they were in a fight, according to the warrant, which did not disclose what prompted the assault.
The second witness reportedly said she told the group to leave and one of the men and the woman left.
However, the second man, whom she identified as Thomas after investigators showed her his driver's license photo, asked her for a ride.
She said the man left when she told him she couldn't give him a ride.
Shortly after his arrest, Thomas spoke with investigators and reportedly identified Willis and Willis' girlfriend as the people who assaulted Tumlinson with him, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Thomas reportedly told investigators during an interview shortly after his arrest that Willis, whom he'd known from school, knocked Tumlinson to the ground, the affidavit states.
Thomas also reportedly admitted to striking Tumlinson with a metal pipe while he was on the ground.
Meanwhile, Lingard was identified as the woman who kicked Tumlinson in the head after deputies assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang Task force recognized her and provided investigators with her most recent book-in photo from the Lubbock County Detention Center.
Court records show she was arrested in November on counts of terroristic threats on a family member, assault causing bodily injury, resisting arrest, criminal mischief and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
She was released on a personal recognizance bond in December.
The book-in photo of Lingard reportedly resembled the woman in the security camera video, the affidavit states.
Meanwhile, investigators spoke to a third witness who reportedly identified Lingard as the woman who kicked Tumlinson after she was shown Lingard's driver license photo.
The witness said after she saw Lingard kick Tumlinson, she reportedly heard her tell Willis to check the man's pockets. The witness reportedly told investigators that Willis and Lingard took "everything" from Tumlinson's pockets.
Thomas reportedly told investigators that Willis didn't have any money before the assault, but did have money after.
Investigators returned to the second witness who reportedly also identified Willis and Lingard as the people who came into her room after she was shown their driver's license photos.
Thomas was arrested July 27 at the front desk of a motel in the 4000 block of South Loop 289, according to jail records.
Willis and Lingard surrendered to authorities within an hour of each other on July 30- less than a day after Lubbock police officials sent a news release identifying the two as suspects in the case.
All three remain held at the Lubbock County Detention Center. Their bonds are set at $500,000 each.
Gabriel Monte is the criminal justice reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas. Have a news tip for him? Email him at gmonte@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Suspects in July downtown Lubbock motel beating death indicted
