Tyler police looking for 2nd murder suspect from weekend homicide

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Tyler police have named a second murder suspect in the March 26 shooting death of a Tyler man.

Christian Navon-Whitney Polk, 19, of Tyler, has a warrant for first-degree murder. His bond has been set at $2 million.

Timothy Eugene Jones, 26, of Tyler, is also charged with the weekend murder of Anthony Wilson, 53. He was arrested on Monday.

Polk is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his is urged to call Tyler police at 903-531-1000 or Crime Stoppers at 903-597-2833.

According to arrest paperwork obtained Thursday morning, a Tyler woman who was also arrested in connection with the March 26 shooting death Wilson opened the door for two men to move the body to an SUV and tried to clean Wilson’s blood from the scene at 2012 W. Gentry, according to an arrest affidavit.

Edna Deanne Jones, 29, is still being held in the Smith County Jail on charges of failure to report a felony with serious bodily injury or death and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence to impair an investigation. Her total bond amount has been set at $275,000.

Edna Jones was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshal’s Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force on Tuesday and booked into the Smith County Jail.

Wilson’s body was found in a heavily wooded area south of the 1800 block of E., Duncan in northeast Tyler on Saturday. He appeared to have been shot in the head, and a black comforter was found near his body, the affidavit stated.

According to the arrest affidavit, Tyler PD officers were dispatched to 3012 W. Gentry at about 6:57 p.m. on Saturday. The landlord called the police after he had not heard from one of his tenants. The landlord had noticed smeared blood outside of Wilson’s door and signs of forced entry, the affidavit stated.

The landlord told the TPD officers that when he went into Wilson’s apartment, he found a large amount of blood on the bed, the affidavit stated. The offices found pooled blood on the bed and the floor of Wilson’s apartment (Apartment B). Blood spatter and a bullet fragment were found on the wall behind the bed.

Officers also found smeared blood on the door to Apartment C, which is rented by Timothy Jones, the affidavit stated. Blood evidence was also found under the residence’s carport and a corner post had been damaged.

Wilson’s vehicle, a black Ford Explorer, was missing from the residence, which was divided into four apartments that share a kitchen common area and bathrooms, the affidavit stated.

When a Tyler PD detective interviewed Timothy Jones’ ex-girlfriend, she said she tried to call her ex earlier that day, but he did not answer. She also told the detective that she called Timothy Jones’ current girlfriend, Edna Jones, and she told her Timothy “had really messed up,” the affidavit stated.

Another TPD detective talked to Edna Jones by phone, and she told him she was at 3012 W. Gentry on Saturday and saw Timothy Jones and another man move a man’s body out of Apartment B and put him in a Ford Explorer.

TPD detectives learned an address associated with Timothy Jones was at 1810 Alice Street. Wilson’s Ford Explorer was found behind the house at that address, and a large amount of blood was found in and on the SUV. A person at the residence told police Timothy Jones had been there earlier that day, but he had left.

During an interview at the police department, Edna Jones said she woke up in Timothy Jones’ apartment at about 5:30 or 6 a.m. on Saturday and found a stranger with socks on his hands in her room, the affidavit stated. When she asked him where Timothy was, he said he was outside.

When Edna Jones started walking toward Apartment B to go outside through the kitchen, she allegedly saw Timothy Jones and the other man wrapping Wilson inside a black comforter. Edna Jones told the TPD detective that Wilson did not appear to be breathing and that she believed Timothy Jones had shot and killed him, the affidavit stated.

Timothy Jones and the other man allegedly put a plastic grocery bag over Wilson’s head, and Edna Jones told police that her boyfriend and the other man both had socks on their hands. Edna Jones said she assisted them by opening the door for them and unlocking the vehicle they put the body in, the affidavit stated.

According to the affidavit, Timothy Jones told his girlfriend to clean the blood off the exterior of the door to Apartment B, the exterior of the carport door, and the concrete area at the bottom of the steps to the carport, and she did so by using cleaning solution and bleach. Timothy Jones and the other man then allegedly left with Wilson’s body.

Edna Jones told detectives that she told several family members what had happened, but she never called the police, the affidavit stated. She allegedly admitted that her family members advised her to call the police.

RELATED:

+ Tyler woman arrested in connection with weekend homicide

+ Suspect in murder of man found in Tyler woods arrested in Dallas

+ Tyler police looking for murder suspect after body found in woods on E. Duncan

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