Teen arrested in stabbings of couple; Victims ID'd

Jorge Carmond, 17, charged in deaths of John Charles Smith, Melinda Lea Smith

SAN ANTONIOUpdated Friday at 10:48 a.m.:

The names of the victims were released Friday.

The victims are identified as John Charles Smith, 61, and Melinda Lea Smith 59.

They both died of multiple stab wounds, the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office said.

UPDATED Thursday at 3 p.m.:

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said investigators arrested 17-year-old Jorge Carmond just before 3 p.m. in connection with the stabbing deaths of a married couple.

The man and woman, who deputies said were in their 60s, were found in their home in the 4400 block of Lost Hills Drive early Thursday morning.

BCSO officials said they received a call in regard to a suspicious person a block away from the victims' home.

Deputies then located the person, identified as Carmond, and took him into custody.

After questioning Carmond and processing the investigation, BCSO investigators determined that they had enough information to charge Carmond with capital murder.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said investigators are not sure yet how a married couple ended up with fatal stab wounds at their home Thursday morning.

Deputy Johnny Garcia, a public information officer for BCSO, said he’s not able to determine whether this may be a double murder case, or perhaps something else.

“We don't have any information on that at this time. It's still early,” Garcia said.

A neighbor’s call to 911 around 5:30 a.m. eventually resulted in a deputy discovering the bodies in the 4400 block of Lost Hills Drive.

ORIGINAL STORY: BCSO: 2 dead after stabbing in SE Bexar County

The neighbor reported hearing a loud argument at a home across the street.

While that woman was on the phone with dispatchers, she told them she heard a single gunshot, Garcia said.

After the deputies arrived, they began to search the area for the source of the unusual noises.

“A deputy was able to locate a vehicle with the trunk open,” Garcia said. “Due to the time (of the day), he found it a little bit suspicious so he began investigating.”

On the porch of the home near the vehicle, the deputy found a man in his 60s suffering from multiple stab wounds.

When the deputy searched the home, he then found the man’s wife, also in her 60s, already dead from stab wounds.

The man was rushed to a hospital but also died of his wounds.

Early on, deputies at the scene said they were looking for the person who stabbed the couple.

Later, Garcia said it was not clear what happened or whether there was another person involved in the deaths.

All of it nearly got by Santiago Ortiz, who only realized what was happening when he went to take out his trash.

“I heard it this morning, it was some yelling,” Ortiz said. “But I didn't pay any attention to it.”

Ortiz and his wife, Rebecca, live a few doors down from the home where investigators were working.

They said the couple who was found dead usually kept to themselves.

While they missed the initial commotion, they couldn’t help but notice the crime scene later.

Deputies sealed off the home with crime scene tape and searched the neighborhood with a dog and helicopter.

“It’s really scary,” Rebecca Ortiz said. “You're wondering if he's around still in the neighborhood. We kept looking and wondering where could he hide.”

Investigators did not immediately locate anyone related to the stabbings, although they did question several people who live in the area.

 


About the Authors

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.

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