2011-01-06 Alex Contreras
Amarillo Police were called to 2601 Linda just after 1:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 6, 2011 to investigate a hit and run.
When responding officers arrived at Club Baloo, they learned that two people had been hit by a car that fled the scene.
The victims have been identified as Melvin Jeffries, 34, and Anthony Owensby, 36. Police say Jeffries' injuries are considered life threatening, Owensby's injuries are considered non-life threatening.
Melvin Jeffries would later die from his injuries.
The same day, police said they identified a suspect, Alex Ray Contreras, 20.
Contreras was questioned by the Special Crimes Unit and arrested on a charge of manslaughter, He was booked into Potter County Detention Center.
January 7, 2011 Murder charge filed
Potter County's 47th District Attorney's office filed a murder charge against Contreras the next day. His original manslaughter charge was dismissed.[1]
The charge change came after the investigation showed that the hit-and-run was intentional.
They also filed a charge for aggravated assault with a motor vehicle.
March 26, 2012 Contreras sentenced
A Potter County judge on Monday sentenced an Amarillo man to 28 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a January 2011 fatal hit-and-run, 47th District Attorney Randall Sims said.
Alex Contreras, 21, pleaded guilty in the 181st District Court to one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Sims said.
For the murder charge, a first-degree felony, Contreras will serve 28 years in prison for injuring Melvin Tyrone Jeffries III, 34, at 1:15 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2011, in the parking lot of Club Baloo, 2601 Linda Drive.
The victim died at an Amarillo hospital later that day, and an autopsy later said Jeffries died of extensive head injures, police said.
Contreras will serve 10 years in prison for the aggravated assault charge, a second-degree felony. He pleaded guilty to also hitting Anthony Deshawn Owensby with his car, the indictment said.
The sentences will run concurrently, Sims said.
A Potter County grand jury indicted Contreras on both charges in June, according to court records.
Investigators at the time said the men did not know each other.