shooting

McKinney Teen Says Cousin's Killing Was Accidental

A suspect is now charged with the murder of a McKinney teenager over the weekend.

Jeremy Reed, 19, was walking the one block home from his aunt's house on Murray Street when he was shot and killed at about 11 p.m. Saturday.

Police charged 19-year-old Jalen Holley with murder in Reed's death. His bond is set at $500,000.

"They're cousins," said Reed's sister, Sinnetria Reed. "I don't understand why anyone would take my brother away from us. Why anybody would want to hurt him. He just wasn't that kind of person, everybody loved him."

According to an arrest warrant released Wednesday, Holley told police he purchased the handgun used in the killing weeks prior "for protection with all the things on Murray Street that go on."

Hours before the shooting, Holley said he confronted a male with a handgun because he suspected the male was trying to sell a cell phone Holley lost days earlier. The male denied having the cell phone.

Later that night, Holley said he was hanging out on Murray Street where the shooting happened. He told police he heard someone approaching and thought it was the male he confronted earlier returning to retaliate. He admited to pointing the handgun at the individual but said the gun fired accidentally.

Holley told police he then realized he'd shot his cousin.

He then ran into a field and threw the handgun, according to the warrant.

Holley said he admited to what happened at a relative's Super Bowl party the next night. He was arrested on an unrelated charged and later charged with murder.

A growing memorial at the spot where Reed was killed is clear evidence of that love.

Friends from McKinney High School came and went Tuesday, leaving teddy bears and signing photos.

"He was so sweet, so respectable," Sinnetria Reed said. "He would do anything for anybody."

Reed's grandmother, Teresa Myles, said he was known for a saying, "If it ain't sweet, it ain't Jones," which led to his nickname "Sweet Jones."

"Everybody loved him," Myles said.

A GoFundMe page was set up by a family friend to help with funeral expenses. A funeral date has not been set. 

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