TYLER, Texas — A man has been arrested for a Tyler murder after being on the run for nearly a year.
According to Smith County judicial records, Christian Navon Whitney-Polk, 20, of Tyler, was arrested Friday by the Smith County Sheriff's Office in connection with a March 2022 murder. He is being held in the Smith County Jail on a $2.5 million bond on the murder charge and for tampering with a corpse.
Polk was wanted for the murder of Anthony Wilson, 53, whose body was found in a heavily wooded area in Tyler on Sunday, Mar. 27, 2022.
Prior to Polk's capture, Timothy Jones, 27, was arrested in Dallas for the murder and booked into the Smith County Jail on a $2 million bond. His girlfriend, Edna Jones, 30, was also taken into custody on charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and failing to report a felony. She was booked into the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling $275,000.
According to a search warrant, Jones knowingly and intentionally used a firearm to kill Wilson on Saturday, Mar. 26.
ARREST AFFIDAVIT
According to the arrest affidavit for Edna, around 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2022, police were called to reports of suspicious property conditions in the 3000 block of W. Gentry Pkwy. in Tyler. The landlord called police after not hearing from a tenant, identified as Anthony, and seeing a large amount of blood on Anthony's bed. The landlord owns a house that was divided into four bedrooms, each individually rented, that share the common areas of the kitchen and bathrooms.
When police arrived, they found pooled blood on the floor of Apt. B (Anthony's room). The affidavit says blood splatter was also found behind the bed and what appeared to be brain matter on the bed, along with a bullet fragment.
Officers say they also located a bloody smear on the door of Apt. C, which was rented by Timothy. Blood evidence was located outside the residence on the pavement under the carport. Police say they also noticed a corner post of the rear carport had been damaged. They also noted Anthony's SUV was missing.
The affidavit states police interviewed Timothy's ex-girlfriend, who stated she called Timothy earlier, but he didn't answer. She then said she then called Edna who said Timothy had "really messed up."
When detectives spoke with Edna, she said she was at the residence when she saw Timothy and another person move a body out of Apt. B and into an SUV. A ping to Timothy's phone pinned his location in the 1800 block of Alice St. in Tyler, according to the affidavit.
When police arrived to the address on Alice St., Timothy was not there, but am SUV, belonging to Anthony, was found behind the residence. The affidavit states large amounts of blood were found "in and on" the SUV. People at the location said Timothy had been there earlier in the day, but left.
When police located Edna, she agreed to be interviewed in person at the police station, the affidavit states. Edna said she woke up around 5:30-6 a.m. on Mar. 26 and decided to take a shower. She said when she got out of the shower, she saw an unknown man with socks on his hand in the room with her. She said she asked where Timothy was and the man said he was outside. Edna told police she walked out of Timothy's room (Apt. C) and began to walk toward Anthony's room (Apt. B) to go outside through the kitchen. According to the affidavit, Edna said she saw Timothy and and unknown man wrapping Anthony's body in a black comforter inside Apt. B. Edna told police Anthony did not appear to be breathing and she believed Timothy fatally shot Anthony.
According to the arrest affidavit, Edna told police the men put a plastic grocery sack over Anthony's head and both had their hands covered with socks as they carried Anthony's body out through the kitchen and into his SUV. She told police she held the door open for the men as they carried Anthony's body out of the house and unlocked the vehicle so they could place his body inside.
The affidavit states Edna was told by Timothy to clean the blood off the door of Apt. B, off the kitchen door and the off the concrete area near the carport. After that, he said Timothy and the other man left with Anthony's body.
Police say Edna stated she used a cleaning solution to clean the blood off the doors and bleach to clean the concrete. According to the affidavit, Edna told some family members what happened, but never reported the crime to police, even though her family told her to.
Around 11:10 a.m. Sunday, police found Wilson in a heavily wooded area south of the 1800 block of E. Duncan St. in northeast Tyler. His body was sent for autopsy.