Girlfriend Says Wright Was Driving Her PT Cruiser When He Left With Pair Whose Bodies Were Found At Cemetery

  • Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The girlfriend of William Howard Wright testified Tuesday that Wright and "Little Tony" were with two youths whose bodies were afterward found in a cemetery at Shepherd.

General Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck bound two counts of criminal homicide and especially aggravated robbery to the Grand Jury against Wright.

A 17-year-old is facing similar charges.

The girlfriend said Wright had been living with her for about three months at her unit at East Lake Courts. She said on the evening of June 19 that Wright and the juvenile were with 17-year-old Rayshann Underwood and 20-year-old Thomas Holder. She said they left in her PT Cruiser, then later returned - without the two visitors.

She said Wright seemed his normal self, but she said the juvenile "was shook. He was scared." She said he had blood on the left top of one of his shoes. She said when she asked him about it he went into the bathroom.

The girlfriend said after they returned that "Little Tony" was counting out some money and giving some to Wright. She said they did not say where they got the cash.

The witness said when she woke the next morning that "Little Tony" was gone.

She said Wright "was normal. He was William."

Det. Phillip McClain said on the morning of June 20 that the bodies of Underwood and Holder were found by the side of a road at the Highland Cemetery.

He said Holder had been shot in the back of the head and Underwood was shot four times, including in the mouth and in the center of his back.

Holder's blue jeans were pulled down and his pockets turned inside out.

The detective said Holder had come into some money and was on Facebook displaying it, including several $100 bills and other currency still in bundles. He said Holder's mother said he had gotten a $5,000 inheritance from his father. She said she gave him the money two days earlier.

Police found one cell phone near the bodies and another near the entrance to the cemetery. Both belonged to Underwood.

Det. McClain said video was collected from East Lake Courts and from the Woodlawn Apartments. It showed Holder and Underwood arriving in a Mercury cab at 10:26 p.m. It then showed the foursome getting into the PT Cruiser at East Lake Courts at 12:43 p.m. The same vehicle is seen at the Woodlawn Apartments a short time later and then arriving back at East Lake Courts - with only Wright and the juvenile inside - at 1:37 a.m.

A man who lives behind the cemetery said he heard gunshots at 1:28 a.m.

Detectives also gathered cell phone data that shows Wright leaving the East Lake Courts, going to the vicinity of the Woodlawns, then going through the Wilcox Tunnel and to the vicinity of the cemetery around the time the shots were heard.

A gun was found at the scene and two other weapons were located in a search of Wright's residence.

Police found some apparent blood on an inside door handle of the PT Cruiser and in the back of the vehicle.

 

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