A fourth person has been charged with murder in connection with the 2019 shooting of two Riverton residents.
Brandon Donald Monroe, 19, was charged with two counts of felony murder and two counts of first-degree murder and appeared in court on Friday, where his bail was set for $2 million.
The bodies of Jocelyn Watt, a member of the Northern Arapahoe tribe, and Rudy Perez were found in their Riverton home in January 2019. Since her murder, Watt’s family has actively promoted the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement.
According to court documents, a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent interviewed Patrick SunRhodes, 17, who is also charged in connection with the murder, earlier this month.
During the interview, SunRhodes told the agent that late in the evening of Jan. 3, 2019, he was at his home in Fremont County when he was contacted by Korbin Headley, 18, who asked if SunRhodes wanted to get some alcohol.
SunRhodes met with Headley and Bryce Teran, 24, and the trio went to a home on the Wind River Indian Reservation. There, they met with Monroe and the four got into a vehicle and drank together.
Monroe went back into the house and came out with methamphetamine and a firearm, the report on the interview said. He used the drug and then put on a pair of gloves and told the others that he needed to “go take care of business,” SunRhodes told the agent.
The four drove to a residence near City Park in Riverton. On the way, Monroe said he had bleached the bullets that he was loading into of the firearm so he wouldn’t leave fingerprints, SunRhodes told the agent.
SunRhodes asked if he could go home, but was not allowed to do so.
Once the four got to the home, they parked in a nearby alley and Monroe told SunRhodes to accompany him into the home. SunRhodes told the agent Monroe hit the home’s back door with his shoulder it several times until it broke open.
SunRhodes followed Monroe into the kitchen/living room area, where he stayed. Monroe went into another room of the house, and SunRhodes said he heard gunshots coming from the room.
SunRhodes walked into the room Monroe entered and saw a woman lying face down on the floor next to the bed and Monroe struggling with another man.
SunRhodes said he saw Monroe shoot the man in the head and then pick up a shotgun from the closet floor. SunRhodes fled from the house and got into the vehicle and Monroe did the same several minutes later.
Sometime later in 2019, Headley told SunRhodes that Monroe and another person would take the blame for the shooting, SunRhodes said.
The firearm described by SunRhodes is the same caliber as the one used in the shooting of Watt and Perez.
Teran and SunRhodes have each been charged with two counts of felony murder, while Headley has been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.
