A Randall County grand jury indicted three people this week. The charge is felony murder. A 45 year old Amarillo man named Jeremy Ray died after he was shot.

Jontrell Graves, 18, Jaylyn Johnson, 18, and Meghan Kern, 43, now face the charge. All three are locked up in the Randall County Detention Center. The Amarillo Police Department Homicide Unit brought the case to the grand jury on Wednesday, August 12.

This case matters because it took months to build. Police first named two suspects. A gun search later led them to a third person. It shows how slow and careful a murder case can be. It also shows that police keep working even after a body is found.

Police say the shooting happened early on May 25. That day was Memorial Day. Officers got a call about gunshots. The call came from a home on South Tyler Street in Amarillo. Officers got there around 12:45 in the morning. They found Jeremy Ray hurt by a gunshot wound.

Medics rushed Ray to the hospital. Doctors worked to save him. He died four days later. That was May 29. He died from his gunshot wound.

Police first named Johnson and Kern as suspects. In early June, the Randall County District Attorney's Office got murder warrants for both of them. Johnson was arrested. She was booked into the Randall County Jail. Kern was already locked up at that time. She sat in the Potter County Detention Center on a different case.

Detectives kept working the case. They did not stop after two arrests. Later, they got new information. That information pointed to Graves as a third suspect. He had already been arrested on other charges before that.

Investigators say new evidence led them to a gun. That gun ties back to the shooting. Based on the gun and other proof, the Randall County District Attorney's Office issued a murder warrant for Graves too. He was then booked into the Randall County Detention Center.

Police say the shooting looked like it was tied to domestic violence. They have not shared more details about what led up to it. They also have not said how the three suspects know each other or how they knew Ray.

Felony murder is a serious charge in Texas. It means a death happened during a dangerous felony crime. More than one person can face the charge for the same death. A grand jury has to look at the evidence first. The grand jury must agree there is enough proof. That happened here on Wednesday. The grand jury returned indictments against all three people.

This case happened in Amarillo. That city sits in the Texas Panhandle. It is hundreds of miles from the Rio Grande Valley. Still, this case matters to Texas readers far from Amarillo too. It shows how long a murder case can take to solve. It shows how police keep digging even after they think they have their suspects. It also shows how a single piece of evidence, like a gun, can change a whole case.

Right now, all three defendants stay locked up. They are held at the Randall County Detention Center. Court records do not show bond amounts yet. There is no trial date yet either.

The Amarillo Police Department has not released more details. They have not said what led to the shooting. They have not said how Graves, Johnson, and Kern are connected to Ray. They have not said how the three of them are connected to each other.

El Tejano will keep following this case. We will report updates as it moves through the Randall County courts.