Dallas

Four Teens Charged With Capital Murder in Fatal Robbery Outside Dallas Costco

Dallas police say juvenile boy fatally shot a man once during a robbery outside a Costco Business Center in Dallas Nov. 16

A man is dead after being shot in the parking lot of a Dallas Costco.
NBC 5 News

Four teenagers arrested in connection with a fatal robbery outside a Dallas Costco Business Center on Tuesday are now facing capital murder charges.

Police said 60-year-old Ali Elbanna was loading groceries into his car when he was approached by four people who tried to rob him. Police said a juvenile, identified only as a 16-year-old boy, shot Elbanna once during the robbery, killing him.

The four suspects were arrested by Dallas police hours later after investigators tracked stolen phones in their possession.

In arrest documents obtained Wednesday, police identified the three adults as 17-year-old James Levels, 17-year-old Janiya Miller, and 19-year-old Jacoby Tatum. All four teens are facing capital murder charges; the three adults are being held on bonds of $500,000 each.

Jacoby Tatum, Janiya Miller, and James Levels
NBC 5 News
L-R: Jacoby Tatum, Janiya Miller, and James Levels are all facing capital murder charges after a 60-year-old man was killed during a robbery outside the Dallas Costco Business Center, Nov. 16, 2021.

Miller, police said, is also facing two additional charges of aggravated robbery for two robberies that took place on the same afternoon, prior to the robbery and homicide in the Costco parking lot.

According to arrest documents obtained by NBC 5 on Thursday, police said Miller robbed two women of their iPhones and a necklace at about 4:30 p.m. near South Oak Cliff High School.

The robbery victim told police she and a friend were on the sidewalk when Miller pulled up in a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck along with three unidentified men. She said Miller got out of the vehicle armed with a gun and demanded money. When she said she didn't have any money, she said Miller took their phones and a necklace

Following the robbery, a family member began tracking one of the stolen phones.

At 6:14 p.m. the phone pinged at NorthPark Mall. About a half-hour later, at 6:45 p.m., it pinged in the Costco parking lot. Officers continued to receive location pings and tracked it to an apartment complex where patrol officers found and detained Miller, still in possession of the phone, at about 7:22 p.m.

Video obtained from Macy's at NorthPark Mall recorded Miller and the three males. Descriptions of the foursome taken from that video were shared with officers who found the other three suspects at a Subway sandwich shop near Walnut Street and Abrams Road at about 7:45 p.m.

The truck, which police said was stolen, was later found abandoned.

In an interview with detectives, police said Miller admitted to taking the phones and necklace from the women near the high school. Because she was a party to an aggravated robbery that resulted in the victim's death, like Tatum and Levels, she's also facing the capital murder charge.

It's not clear if Tatum, Miller or Levels have obtained attorneys.

NBC 5's Maria Guerrero contributed to this report.

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