Harris County Assistant District Attorney Tina Ansari said, "'What are you doing here? Who are you waiting for?' He said, 'I'm waiting for my female friend. She was supposed to meet me here.' They said, 'Well, call her and tell her to come here. Or tell her we're going to kill you if she doesn't come here.'"
The female victim, also a student at Channelview High School, showed up. She was sexually assaulted by two of the suspects while her boyfriend was held at gunpoint. Both victims were then forced at gunpoint to walk nearly two miles to a store to withdraw money from an ATM.
Surveillance photos helped identify Mercedez Leshion Jones, 17, and Jerricho Oneal Prince, 18. Both are in custody charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated sexual assault. Jones, the female, is a current student at Channelview High School. Prince is a former student.
Former classmates say Jones seemed harmless, but in Prince's neighborhood, people tell us he was known for picking fights.
"I knew he was a bad guy but I didn't think he'd do something that bad," said Alan Ramirez, who knows Prince.
Channelview ISD had no comment on the crime other than a prepared statement: "This is truly a sad and unfortunate incident of a very sensitive nature. We will continue to work closely with the Harris County Sheriff's Office during the course of this ongoing investigation."
For students, it is the brutality of the crime that is hard enough to deal with, much less a crime committed by and upon fellow students. One student who didn't want to be identified says she wishes the best for the female victim.
She said, "I hope she gets better, because she didn't need that to happen to her."
There are two other juvenile suspects, ages 13 and 14, involved in this case. Because of their ages, their names have not been released. All four suspects remain in custody with $30,000 bond for each.
