This is insane & sad. Insanely sad.

A Longview man has been arrested for the murder of Tyrone Underwood.

Carlton Ray Champion Jr. was arrested Jan. 29 for a probation violation, but was the prime suspect at the onset of the investigation, according to the official affidavit.

On Jan. 26, officers found Underwood, 24, of Tyler, dead in his vehicle from multiple gunshot wounds in the 400 block of West 24th Street.

Early interviews with people who knew Underwood revealed the two men had been seeing each other for several weeks.

During an early police interview, Champion told police he had not spoken with or seen Underwood since 11 p.m. on Jan. 25.

The police located cell phone messages between Champion and Underwood the night of the murder that indicated the men wanted to meet after midnight. There was an argument between the two men that ended with Underwood telling Champion he did not want to continue the relationship.

Around 2 a.m., the two decided the location of the meeting.

Champion became defensive and uncooperative when police asked him about the inconsistencies in his earlier interview.

Champion, who police say was attending Texas College, remains in Gregg County jail and faces first-degree murder charges in Smith County. Judge Christi Kennedy signed the arrest warrant and placed a $1 million bond on him.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the murder arrest warrant, Carlton Ray Champion Jr. became a suspect after Ty Underwood’s roommate, Kedrick Darks, told police Underwood had been dating a man named “Carlton” for several weeks prior to her death.

Our news partners at KYTX CBS 19 are reporting that although Darks had no details on the man, a police department employee who knew Underwood said the man played football Texas College. It was at that point that investigators connected the dots and confirmed that Champion, in fact, played football for the school.

The detectives said they interviewed Champion, who confirmed that he had been communicating via a service called “Kik” with Underwood, who was going by “Tyra” on the service. They were able to search Champion’s tablet computer and allegedly discovered communications between Champion and Underwood dating back to January 19, 2015.

“After reading the text between Champion, Jr. and Underwood, it was clear that the two have had sexual relations with each other,” one detective wrote.

The investigation revealed a series of messages between Champion and Underwood on January 25 in which Underwood was angry with Champion for initially agreeing meet in person that night and then backing out.

Underwood sent a message saying she no longer wanted to see Champion, to which he allegedly responded: “That’s how it is now, I will make it up.”

After that, there was allegedly some additional conversation about where and how they would meet, and whether it would be at Texas College or along a random street. The conversation makes it appear they were to meet on 25th street.

One of the detectives interviewed Champion’s father and wrote “[Champion’s father] stated that Carlton Jr. was meeting [Underwood] and thought [Underwood] was female. According to [Champion’s father], Carlton Jr. was supposed to get some type of sexual favor from [Underwood] but realized [Underwood] was a male.”

 

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