SAN ANTONIO – An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a murder on the Northwest Side and is being questioned for another death less than one-half mile away, according to an arrest affidavit.
Noah Rayden West was taken into custody on Monday after a body was found on Sunday in an alley located in the 1700 block of West Gramercy Place, Bexar County court records show.
The affidavit states that he was also detained in connection with another body that was found on Monday in the 2000 block of Fredericksburg Road.
A Tuesday statement from the San Antonio Police Department said that the two cases appear to be connected. At this time, the department also said that it is not looking for any additional suspects.
Court records indicate that West was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $500,000 bond for the Gramercy Place killing.
Surveillance video leads to arrest
West’s murder arrest stems from a body that was found on Sunday in an alley on Gramercy Place.
The affidavit identified the body as 29-year-old Darreyl Fields. According to court documents, he was pronounced dead at the scene due to severe head trauma.
A weapon described as a piece of wood that was taped to another wood piece with a white strap around it was located at the scene, the affidavit states.
A San Antonio police officer wrote in the affidavit that the weapon had blood on it.
Surveillance video facing toward the crime scene showed West wearing a red T-shirt with the word “Alpha” on the front.
According to the affidavit, West was seen on the footage carrying the weapon and also approaching the area where Fields was later found.
West was also seen holding the weapon with a two-handed grip and raising it in a manner that was consistent with hitting someone, the officer wrote in the affidavit.
The affidavit states that the white strap around the suspected murder weapon was later found next to Fields’ head.
West was later captured on the surveillance footage putting on clothes over the original ones he was wearing. Court documents state that he then left the weapon at the scene before he left.
The surveillance footage did not capture anyone else approaching the area of Fields’ body.
While investigating, the officer wrote in the affidavit that they contacted a business close to where Fields was found.
Someone at the business said that police had been called the night prior about a male hitting vehicles with a stick. The affidavit states that surveillance footage of the incident showed West carrying the suspected murder weapon.
After reviewing an officer’s bodycam footage of West allegedly hitting vehicles, court documents state that the murder weapon was found at his feet.
Man found next to ‘large pool of blood’
On the day after the Gramercy Place murder, SAPD officers were dispatched to the 2000 block of Fredericksburg Road for another body found.
Police said a 62-year-old man was found dead next to a “large pool of blood” at an abandoned business. The victim also suffered trauma to his head, SAPD said.
While checking the area for witnesses and potential persons of interest, court documents state that West was found at the Gramercy Place scene.
West apparently had blood on his shoes, according to the affidavit. He was detained and then transported to SAPD headquarters for questioning, documents state.
While investigators collected West’s clothes, the affidavit stated that he was wearing the same red T-shirt with “Alpha” on the front.
The T-shirt allegedly had several spots of blood on it.
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