A San Augustine grand jury has indicted two men in connection with the death of a 20-year-old Nacogdoches man.
The San Augustine County grand jury indicted David Whitehead and Bryan Johnson on capital murder charges on Wednesday for their roles in the April 4 death of Aaron Wayne Ainsworth, who was stabbed and shot.
Both men are still being held in the San Augustine County Jail. No bond amounts have been set for their charges.
According to a previous East Texas News story, Ainsworth’s body was found in an abandoned house off a dirt road on U.S. Highway 96 north of Bronson in San Augustine County on April 8.
“It is senseless,” San Augustine County Sheriff Robert Cartwright said in a previous story. “You’re talking about a 20-year-old young man who just lost his life here over foolishness.”
Cartwright said Ainsworth was last heard from on April 3.
According to an affidavit, an unnamed witness told investigators that 31-year-old David Whitehead of Nacogdoches County gave the witness a pair of bloodstained blue jeans and a shotgun while picking up 30-year-old Bryan Johnson of San Augustine County. That witness also said Ainsworth was with Whitehead on April 3rd.
Both Johnson and Whitehead were brought in for questioning by authorities.
“The Texas Rangers and Nacogdoches Sheriff’s Department interviewed David Whitehead,” Cartwright said. “And he confessed to the murder, and it happened in San Augustine County.”
During the interviews, investigations say both Johnson and Whitehead confessed they were under the influence of drugs and could not provide an exact location of the body.
The affidavit states Whitehead told investigators that he, Johnson, and Ainsworth were driving in and around Nacogdoches County and that he and Johnson had murdered Ainsworth in the morning on April 4th. The affidavit states a shotgun and knife were used.
“We ended up executing a search warrant here in our County at a place where drugs were being sold and retrieved drugs and several weapons,” Cartwright said. “We believe we have possibly two of the weapons used in this murder.”
Investigators say Johnson also confessed Ainsworth was assaulted then driven to a location off U.S. Highway 96, where he was murdered. An autopsy has been ordered.
Cartwright said they still don’t know the motive or how the victim and the suspects knew each other. He added that he thought the murder was drug-related and “something that just got out of hand.”
Sheriff Cartwright said multiple agencies from surrounding counties assisted with the investigation.
