Warrant issued for 2nd suspect in shooting-wreck case

Published 9:57 am Tuesday, January 30, 2018

By Ken Stickney

Ken.stickney@panews.com

Port Arthur police have a warrant for suspect David Broadus in connection with a shooting last week — the first of four apparently unrelated murders committed in a span of two days in this city last week.

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Police and the office of Justice of the Peace Nancy Beaulieu of Beaumont confirmed that the judge issued the warrant at 11:48 a.m. Monday. Little information would be made public until the warrant is executed — that is, until an arrest is made — the spokeswoman for the judge said.

Bond would be for $500,000 for Broadus, according to a spokesman for the District Clerk’s Office in Port Arthur.

Broadus is the second person connected to the death of Jose Pompas Leal, who died after he was shot in the head around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Leal’s car, which he was driving after sustaining the lethal shot, later crashed into traffic in the middle of the intersection of 39th Street and Memorial Boulevard.

Five vehicles were involved in that wreck; seven people, including Leal, were taken to area hospitals, where Leal was pronounced dead.

A post on the Port Arthur Police website on Sunday said Broadus was the second person that police were seeking. James Joseph Levron, 25, was arrested Friday in connection with Leal’s death. Bond for Levron was set at $500,000.

Three others died in Port Arthur homicides last week:

  • Kevin Tran, 24, was fatally shot on a on a porch in the 1300 block of Trinity Avenue. Also shot was Sheldon Polk, 24.
  • Jonah Rivera of Sabine Pass was killed early Friday after he was shot in the mouth at a private residence. Several masked men had gone to the house looking for someone at the home.
  • Around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Ervin Michael Johnson, 37, of Port Arthur was killed after he was stabbed in the chest after a dispute with a second person turned physical. Shanga Hudson, 41, was charged with manslaughter. His bond was set at $25,000, jail records show.