HOUSTON (AP) – A second teenager has been charged with kidnapping several migrants and allegedly holding them captive for several days at a Houston hotel before they were rescued by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents during a confrontation that ended with the fatal shooting of another suspect, authorities said on Monday.
Demarcus Celestine, 17, was charged on Saturday with three counts of aggravated kidnapping, according to court records.
His arrest was made public on Monday by a tweet from the FBI’s Houston office, which said Celestine had been arrested by FBI agents and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston.
Celestine, who appeared in court on Monday, remained jailed on bonds totalling USD300,000.An attorney for Celestine didn’t immediately return a call or an e-mail seeking comment.
Authorities allege the kidnapping began on March 18 in neighbouring Waller County when three migrants who had been travelling on Interstate 10 were stopped and forced from a vehicle. The migrants’ driver might have called 911 and informed the Waller County Sheriff’s Office about the kidnapping, authorities said. The sheriff’s office later worked with the FBI to find the migrants.
Prosecutors allege Celestine took the migrants – two women and one man – at gunpoint to the north Houston hotel, “where he held (them) under threat of death by firearm, sending messages to family members to bring money in exchange for their release”, according to court records.
Celestine is accused, along with two other suspects, of “using physical violence” against the migrants as they were held for several days.
Another suspect, Josiah Jackson, 17, has been charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping. Jackson remained jailed on bonds totalling USD200,000.
