Randy Carpenter Obituary, Death; – A man from Waco was indicted on Thursday for the shooting death of another individual on February 22, which occurred during what appears to be a dispute regarding a cell phone left at a gas station in East Waco.
Howard Lewis McCreary III, 34, was indicted for murder by a grand jury in McLennan County in connection with the death of 45-year-old Randy Carpenter, who was fatally shot by a masked assailant in the 2600 block of Grim Avenue.
As per the arrest records from the Waco police, McCreary was a patron at a gas station located at 1101 Elm Ave. when he discovered a cell phone. Surveillance footage from the store captures McCreary finding the phone on a post in the parking lot and subsequently taking it with him.
According to an arrest affidavit, McCreary’s wife informed investigators that she was present when her husband discovered the phone and that he entered the store to attempt to locate the phone’s owner.
After being unable to identify the owner, McCreary took the phone to his mother’s residence, where he connected it to a charger. While the phone was charging, McCreary answered an incoming call, spoke with an individual, and then departed from his mother’s home, driving to the 2600 block of Grim Avenue, as alleged in the arrest records.
Surveillance footage from that area depicts McCreary arriving at the scene, and it also shows “two suspects” seated in a blue Kia K4 in front of the residence, according to an arrest complaint.
The complaint states, “The suspects circle back around, and a confrontation ensues when the victim exits his car.” It further notes that “audio can be heard, and it appears to be a dispute over the phone.”
Both individuals were masked and exited the Kia. One suspect seized the phone from McCreary while the other shot him, as indicated in the arrest records. The two suspects then fled the scene in the Kia.
Investigators from the police department returned to examine the store’s video footage and observed the individual later identified as McCreary leaving a phone on the post at the gas station. Officers noted that he was wearing the same jacket, pants, and brown boots as the individual who shot McCreary in the video footage from Grim Avenue.
The arrest affidavit also mentions that the suspected shooter had “a distinctive hairline tattoo on his forehead” that corresponds with the description of the individual seen in the footage.
