An Odessa teenager arrested in March in connection with a December homicide will stand trial as an adult.
Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said Ector County Court-at-Law Judge Brooke Hendricks determined Monday that Khaleel Ashton Burford, 17, is capable of standing trial as an adult in the Dec. 19 death of Jeremiah Padilla.
Following the hearing, Burford was transferred to the Ector County Adult Detention Center, Griffis said. He was released Tuesday after posting a $50,000 surety bond.
According to an ECSO report, investigators determined Burford, who was then 16, went to a home in the 13000 block of West Firewater Trail on Dec. 19 to meet with Padilla to trade a weapon and the two ended up exchanging approximately 10 gunshots.
Both teenagers were struck.
Padilla was taken by first responders to Medical Center Hospital where he died and Burford and a bullet-riddled Chevrolet Silverado were dropped off at Odessa Regional Medical Center by a young girl.
According to the report, Burford’s mother refused to allow him to give investigators his version of events, but a witness to the shooting identified him as being the only person inside the Chevy who fired a weapon. In addition, security camera footage shows Burford arriving, the shooting and the Chevy leaving, the report stated.
“At the time (the suspect) was dropped off at (the hospital), the firearm used during the shooting, and possibly the one being traded, were both missing,” the report stated.
ECSO investigators arrested Burford in March while conducting a search warrant in the 1300 block of Whitaker Avenue.
