Double Homicide Suspect Fernando Molina Charged With Gun Crime
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - An Austin man with alleged ties to a double homicide was charged with a drug crime and indicted this week.
Fernando Molina, 38, was charged via criminal complaint on Feb. 16 and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
According to the complaint, the charges stemmed from an investigation into a drug-related double homicide perpetrated in Parker County, Texas on April 11, 2021. Two weeks after the killings, investigators raided the home of Molina's friend, Jerome Thomas Watkins, and seized more than 3,000 fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, multiple firearms, and 20 cell phones that allegedly contained evidence of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin trafficking.
According to the complaint, a search of those phones revealed text message conversations with a drug supplier saved in the phone under the name "Austin." Investigators eventually traced "Austin's" multiple phone numbers to Molina. One of Molina's phones was the last device in contact with a homicide victim before his death; another pinged cell towers in close proximity to the crime scene at the time of the homicide, according to the complaint.
Parker County has charged Molina with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the double homicide.
Watkins, was convicted at trial in November 2021 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is set to be sentenced later this month.