CRIME

Police tie suspect to 2 deadly drug deals

Mark D. Wilson
mdwilson@statesman.com

A man who had already been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting in Northeast Austin early in November is facing a new murder charge, Austin police said.

Isaac Jerome Thomas, 23, is accused of gunning down Tony Lamar Huggins on Nov. 6 in a Walmart parking lot in the 1000 block of Norwood Park Boulevard.

On Tuesday, investigators filed a new charge and accused him of killing 26-year-old Joshua Hardesty at an apartment complex in the 1500 block of East Parmer Lane on Sept. 11, according to an arrest affidavit.

Authorities found Hardesty dead at the complex after responding to reports of a shooting, the document says. Detectives found a handgun under his body and a large bag of marijuana next to him, police said.

READ MORE: Hardesty, slain in Tuesday shooting, remembered as father, entrepreneur

After Huggins was killed almost two months later, a witness approached investigators and told them Thomas was the shooter, the affidavit says. The witness said Thomas told him he’d also shot another man 10 times and that the victim had been with a dog at the time, which matched up with details in Hardesty’s death.

Hardesty’s dog, a 1-year-old German shepherd named Zero, remained at the scene of the shooting near Hardesty’s body while police gathered evidence.

According to the affidavit, another witness told police he’d agreed to meet up with Hardesty to purchase a large amount of marijuana on the day he was killed.

He said he had pulled into the apartment complex to meet Hardesty, but heard gunshots and started to drive away. As he did, he told police, Thomas ran up to the witness' car and got in and ordered him to drive. The witness said he dropped Thomas off at a nearby apartment complex.

Thomas was arrested on Nov. 8 and charged with capital murder in connection with Huggins' death. Court records show that killing was related to another marijuana deal gone wrong. An arrest affidavit filed at the time said Huggins had driven into Austin from San Angelo with $60,000 to buy marijuana from Thomas and at least two other men. Thomas shot and killed Huggins while trying to rob him, police have said.

“We are glad that we got him off the streets,” said Austin police Sgt. Eric De Los Santos. “Unfortunately, these were over the sale of marijuana, which is surprising to us — that we have so many of these types of deaths over the sale of marijuana.”

De Los Santos said Hardesty and Huggins' deaths were not linked.

Thomas was in jail Wednesday with bail set at $333,000, police said.