An 18-year-old male has been accused of killing a man he regularly used for car rides in Fort Worth, according to court documents.
Surveillance images helped lead police to Elijah Bankhead, who was arrested Wednesday on a capital murder charge in connection with the death of 36-year-old Raymond Castillo.
Around 3:55 a.m. Nov. 22, officers were called to the Post Oak Apartments, near Post Oak and Trinity boulevards.
Two of Castillo's friends went to his apartment after they hadn't heard from. They found the door was unlocked and saw him lying on his couch, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Officers noticed that there was a "duty belt" missing a handgun nearby. Castillo worked as a security guard, the warrant says. Castillo was shot twice in the head and once in the back, police records show.
Castillo's Dodge Charger was missing from his Fort Worth apartment and was found abandoned near a Dallas car wash.
Investigators gathered surveillance video that showed a man, later identified as Bankhead, walking toward a car wash in the area where Castillo’s vehicle was found the day before Castillo's body was discovered, police records show.
The car wash owner told police he found gun boxes and a holster in a trashcan, which investigators recovered from that scene.
After police connected the car to Castillo and his death, investigators learned that Castillo had locked himself out of his car on Nov. 20 at a gas station in the 13900 block of Trinity Boulevard. Castillo was seen on surveillance video with Bankhead, the affidavit says.
Fort Worth police released surveillance footage from that gas station showing a man they believed was connected to Castillo's slaying.
After the images were released, someone called police and said the surveillance photos show a man called, "King," who was later determined to be Bankhead, the warrant says.
Investigators questioned Bankhead on Dec. 11.
He told police Castillo would give him rides to Dallas on occasion. And he also said that on the night of Castillo's death, the man told him to leave. He claimed that he took an Uber to Dallas where he was going to visit a friend but then he opted to walk an hour home, the affidavit says.
But, investigators say records contradict Bankhead's story and that he left Castillo's apartment much later than what he told police, the warrant says.
While investigators were leaving Bankhead's apartment, they heard him say, "My life is over," according to the affidavit.
Fort Worth police believe Bankhead was trying to rob Castillo and shot him to death, the affidavit says.
Bankhead remains in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
