RUSK, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video was published in December 2022.
Closing arguments for the prosecution and defense in the trial of a man accused of kidnapping and killing a Jacksonville teen who has been missing since 2020 will begin Thursday morning.
Cameron Shead is charged with capital murder in connection with the disappearance of 18-year-old Tyress Gipson, who was last seen in August 2020. He faces life in prison without parole if found guilty.
His trial began Monday and court testimony continued Wednesday in the 369th District Court at the Cherokee County Courthouse in Rusk.
After calling several witnesses, both the state and defense rested their cases. Judge Michael Davis told the jury closing arguments would start at 9 a.m. Thursday. Jurors would then go into deliberations afterward.
During testimony Wednesday, defense witnesses told jurors Gipson was a part of a group that robbed a boy, who is like a nephew to Shead, but Shead did not want to get back at Gipson or make plans to attack the teen.
Shead was arrested in September 2020 along with Derrick D. Hicks, Breonna M. Jimenez and a juvenile on aggravated kidnapping charges related to Gipson's disappearance, according to the Jacksonville Police Department. Shead was later indicted for capital murder.
Family and officials say Gipson was last seen Aug. 22, 2020 when he left his home after receiving a Snapchat. Gipson's body has not yet been recovered.
According to an indictment, a grand jury found on or about Aug. 23, 2020, Shead caused the death of Gipson "by unknown means" while committing or attempting to commit aggravated kidnapping.
On Wednesday, Shead's girlfriend, Shauntel Simpson, testified she lived with Shead, Jimenez and others at a Palestine apartment in August 2020. Simpson was Shead's girlfriend for several years.
She described an alleged robbery in which her nephew was held at gunpoint at a Jacksonville apartment complex and Gipson was involved.
Simpson said she was going through Jacksonville on her way to Tyler with her nephew for school shopping using Shead's car. They stopped at a Jacksonville apartment complex for the nephew to get shoes from someone. When they arrived there, Simpson said she saw men with guns, including Gipson, on the property.
She testified her nephew was robbed at the apartment complex. She didn't see much except guns were pointed at her nephew. She noticed her nephew was scared and afterward she dropped him off at his father's house.
The vehicle was shot at but no one was injured, Simpson said. She testified that Shead, who was an uncle figure to her nephew, said he was coming to check on them but he had no intent on revenge.
Simpson testified that a Tahoe that Jimenez previously testified she was driving in August 2020 was not working at that time.
Simpson said she had gone to her brother's house for a party on Aug. 22, 2020 around 11 p.m. and left around 4 a.m. She testified that Shead was asleep with his child on the night of Aug. 22, 2020.
Simpson said that Shead never said he was going to make Gipson pay for allegedly shooting at the vehicle Simpson and the nephew were in. She testified that Shead didn't make threats of attacking Gipson, such as setting him on fire.
Claims of Shead leaving his apartment to make Gipson pay made by Jimenez in her testimony are not true, according to Simpson's testimony.
Simpson testified she was never contacted by law enforcement to be interviewed and she told the grand jury everything she knew.
Alexandria Thompson, who lived with Shead and Simpson in August 2020, testified Shead was often gone working in the oilfield. When he was home, Shead was with his children frequently and was a proud father.
She testified that she was with Simpson and her nephew when the nephew was robbed at a Jacksonville apartment complex.
Thompson said Jimenez could not have been driving a Tahoe at that time. She said Shead did not meet with others, including Jimenez, to take revenge on Gipson or ask for bleach to use against Gipson or plan to set the teen on fire.
Shead was not angry about the alleged robbery involving Simpson's nephew and Gipson, Thompson testified.
Thompson testified she was not aware of the Tahoe's importance in the case.
Rhonda Perry, manager for the Palestine apartment complex that Shead, Simpson and Thompson lived at, testified the Tahoe was sitting while inoperable at the complex's property for a while and she had the vehicle towed at one point.
She said the lease for the apartment was under Thompson's name.
The defense then rested its case, while the state was given the opportunity for a rebuttal. The prosecution called Hailey Jimenez, the sister of Breonna M. Jimenez, who told the defense she was not aware of a claim saying Breonna would be state's "star witness" in the case.
The state then rested once again, and the judge let the jury go for the afternoon.