According to CBSDFW, DeSoto Police have linked two homicides that occurred only days apart, on April 22 and April 25.
The second murder occurred because the suspect “mistakenly believed the online rumors about the name of his brother’s murderer,” according to authorities.
Camran Kashawn Collier, 19, was found murdered in the driver’s seat of his Honda Accord, according to DeSoto Police.
Three days later, at Les Zeiger Park, a “balloon release” ceremony took place in Camran’s honor.
Just after the ceremony, one of the participants, Kolby Marquise Graham, 20, of Lancaster, was shot in the head by another individual in front of many guests. Graham initially survived the shooting but died several days later.
None of the witnesses to the shooting came forward to police with details about the shooter’s identification.
DeSoto detectives suspected a link to the initial killing of Camran Collier, but still couldn’t reveal this knowledge because the case was still ongoing.
The man who was gunned down at the ceremony, Kolby Marquise Graham, was wrongly named as Camran’s murderer in multiple social media postings, according to their follow-up investigation.
Camran’s brother, Norman Christopher Collier IV, 22, was allegedly believing online stories about his brother’s murderer, according to authorities.
“In response to the senseless killing of a person wrongly identified as murder suspect, we are URGING citizens to use caution & common sense when posting information to social media,” DeSoto police said on Twitter. “Please check veracity & source of any info related to police matters. It can save a life!”
Collier is sitting in the Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond.
