TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The attached video was made in June 2021.
A trial date has been set for one of two Jacksonville men accused in a shooting that killed a woman celebrating her birthday at a Tyler daiquiri shop last summer.
Jaderick Willis, 22, is charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of Tylsha Brown, 46, of Katy, on June 25 last year.
The shooting began when a fight broke out in the parking lot of New Orleans Flavors Daiquiris in Tyler. Brown was shot and killed while inside the restaurant.
During a hearing Friday, Willis' trial was set for Aug. 29 with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Aug. 19 in the 114th District Court, according to court records.
Also accused of involvement in the shooting, Dycorrian Wayne Lofton, 23, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was originally arrested on a murder charge but later indicted on an assault charge.
Court records show Lofton has a plea agreement hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon in the 114th District Court.
Jalen Cavitt, of Alabama, was also injured because of the shooting but was later released from the hospital.
Both Willis and Lofton remain in the Smith County Jail on bonds of $750,000 each.
After the shooting, police investigators gathered evidence and named Lofton as a suspect and later Willis. Lofton turned himself in to the U.S. Marshal’s Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force on July 16, while Willis turned himself in on July 3.
Willis was also injured during the shooting and released after treatment at the hospital. After he spoke to the police, officers determined Willis as a suspect in the shooting.
An arrest affidavit states a tip from Smith County Crime Stoppers indicated Lofton and another person were involved in the shooting death. A witness of the shooting said he recognized Lofton and another person as two of the people involved. The witness said he saw Lofton retrieve his gun and say that “they were killers,” and he saw Lofton shooting a handgun toward the front of New Orleans Flavors.