A Hobbs, N.M., man has been identified as the man who killed a 75-year-old Odessa man and then led law enforcement on a 24 hour chase from Odessa to Mertzon.
Trevor James Myrick, 26, of Hobbs, New Mexico, had stolen the victim’s 2014 black Ford Mustang and fled the scene.
Myrick is also accused of several carjackings in West Texas Monday as he eluded officers first by car and then on foot before reportedly being found in Irion County and shot to death by law enforcement there.
Odessan Ronald Wayne Irwin, 75, was killed by Myrick prior to him leading authorities from multiple agencies on a cross-county pursuit that concluded in Irion County on RM 2469, about five miles northwest of Mertzon. Myrick then crashed the vehicle and fled on foot, leading to a multi-agency manhunt that lasted throughout the night Monday and into Tuesday.
A Department of Public Safety news release details at 4 p.m., DPS troopers located Myrick near the intersection of Duncan Ave. and North Broadway St. in Mertzon and an officer-involved shooting took place killing Myrick. Texas Rangers are investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Overnight on Monday, officials knew Myrick was on foot and that he had ditched a backpack as he ran from police. Drones and multiple law enforcement agencies were used overnight Monday and all day Tuesday.
SanAngeloLIVE.com reported Tuesday that San Angelo resident Joe Cuevas said the fugitive stole his Tahoe at gunpoint after he ditched the 2014 Ford Mustang stolen from the slain Odessa homeowner, Irwin.
The Mustang was left in Irion County and Cuevas said he was working on a fence when Myrick approached him and stole his Tahoe.
Cuevas said the fugitive pulled a gun on one of his fellow workers, hopped into the Tahoe and nearly ran Cuevas over when he gunned the accelerator to continue fleeing from DPS, the sheriff’s deputies, and whoever else was trailing him by this time.
Two helicopters and a PC-12 Pilatus command post aircraft on Monday and Tuesday circled an area west-northwest of Mertzon. Myrick later ditched the Tahoe and took off on foot with officers in pursuit.
Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said on Monday he was on the scene in West Odessa where Irwin was killed by the carjacker. Griffis said earlier that reports indicated the man was shot, but that now it appears he died after the carjacker likely ran over him.
Griffis also clarified Myrick stole a car in Lea County, N.M., and ended up in West Odessa where he asked a neighbor of the 75-year-old if he could use his phone and he was told no. He then asked the 75-year-old’s wife and was told no and then got into a scuffle with the man. He stole the victim’s car and ran over him.
ECISD schools were on a brief “secure,” which lasted about an hour Monday morning.
A secure means all students and staff are to remain indoors — no one enters or exits until the district receives additional word — while continuing to operate on a regular schedule inside the building.
There were no threats toward any ECISD schools; the secure was issued as a precaution and was lifted, the release stated.
Odessan Jessica Natividad said she picked her 4-year-old son up from Lamar Early Education Center a little after noon.
He was supposed to go to daycare after school, but the daycare called her to say the school was in secure.
A couple of minutes later, she got a message to the same effect about ECISD.
Natividad went to get her son after she was told the bus wouldn’t be coming to get him.
“I was glad they did. I feel much better now that I was able to see him. I gave him a big ol’ hug when I saw him. Nowadays it’s crazy. … I’m just glad everyone’s safe,” she said.
