Authorities have captured one individual linked to a 2023 homicide at 4800 West 34th Street, while intensifying their search for a second. Arrested on Monday, Izavian Bell, 17, faces a murder charge for his alleged role in the killing of 26-year-old Dominique Rice. In a report by City of Houston News, Bell's arrest was facilitated by the collaborative efforts of Houston Police Department SWAT and the South Gessner and Southeast Patrol Division Crime Suppression Teams.
Charged also with murder and still at large is Joseph Refugio Ramos, 18. On the scene where the shooting occurred at around 3:50 a.m. on November 12, 2023, Houston Fire Department paramedics discovered Rice and pronounced him deceased, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. A witness, unharmed, recounted, the horror that unfolded when suspects got out of a vehicle and confronted Rice. One of them, it is alleged, fired several shots at him. After the shooting, the suspects left the scene hastily in the aforementioned vehicle.
Following the attack, Sergeant K. Persad and Detective L. Gonzales of the HPD Homicide Division led the preliminary investigation identifying Ramos as a suspect, resulting in charges filed on January 2. Further inquiries brought Bell into focus as one of the shooters, with a murder charge filed on March 17. "A witness stated they were walking with Rice when a vehicle drove up and several suspects exited the vehicle. As the suspects confronted Rice, one of them produced a pistol and then shot him multiple times. The suspects then fled the scene in the vehicle. The witness, who ran and hid, was not injured," detailed the officers in a statement obtained by City of Houston News.
Currently detained in Harris County Jail, Bell was taken into custody without mishap. The authorities are urging anyone with insights regarding the location of Joseph Refugio Ramos or additional information pertinent to the investigation to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or to communicate anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
