Fort Worth, TX – 16 December 2020 – Lamont Cousins reportedly sold his red Dodge to the dealer with a lien on it. After the vehicle was repossessed from a buyer by the original lienholder, the dealer had to refund, the buyer. The dealer, out $10,000, had an argument with Cousins. When Cousins returned, he allegedly, beat them, bound them and took them away to an isolated location and murdered them.
Police officers were called to Bill’s Auto Sales in the 4200 block of Benbrook Highway about 3:30 p.m. Monday after a man said he saw blood inside the building.
The man, identified as Lewis’ son, told police that he had been unable to contact his mother, who was an employee at the business, the affidavit said. He said that he went to the dealership and noticed the doors were locked and that Lewis’ car was parked behind the dealership.
When he looked through the locked glass door he saw blood on the floor that “appeared to have been wiped as if someone had been attempting to clean it up,” the affidavit said.
Responding officers pried the door open and found employee Virginia Lewis, 65 shot dead behind a desk, the affidavit said. Bullet holes were found in the wall behind her and in a vehicle outside, according to the affidavit.
Large amounts of blood, bloody rags and shoe prints were found throughout the building, the affidavit said. A safe was also opened, police said.
Officers could not find 55-year-old Clayton Turrentine, the owner of the dealership, or 46-year-old Veronica Jones, who also worked there, even though they were supposed to be at the dealership. Their cars were parked outside, the affidavit said.
The homicide unit saw drops of blood throughout the business in a “90-degree pattern,” indicating that a suspect may have been injured and bled while cleaning up.
Police also spoke to Jones’ daughter, who said that Turrentine had an altercation on Thursday with a man later identified as Cousins, the affidavit said. The woman said Turrentine bought a red Dodge from Cousins for $10,000.
The car was for Jones, but Jones didn’t want the car, her daughter told police, so it was placed on the lot to be sold. A buyer purchased the car and later discovered after it was repossessed that it had a lien on it and returned the money to the buyer, leaving Turrentine at a financial loss, the affidavit said.
In surveillance footage from a nearby business, police identified a two-tone Ford F-150 and a light-colored car, along with two men, in the dealership’s parking lot. The two-tone Ford was taken from the dealership’s lot, the affidavit said, and police used a GPS tracking system — which was equipped on all the lots’ vehicles — to trace the truck to Arlington.
There, police found Lamont Cousins, Andrew Joseph Vandermeer, 32 and an unidentified man, the affidavit said. All three agreed to go with detectives to be interviewed.
According to the affidavit, Vandermeer told police that Cousins had asked him to meet him at Bill’s Auto Sales on Monday. When he entered, he saw Turrentine bleeding on a couch holding his face, the affidavit said. Vandermeer also saw Jones on the couch, bleeding from her chest.
Cousins told Vandermeer to tie up Turrentine and Jones with a rope and put them in the backseat of the Ford F-150, the affidavit said. Vandermeer said Cousins also took a wooden box and what appeared to be a purse.
Vandermeer drove the truck and Cousins sat in the passenger seat. The two victims in the backseat were talking and still alive while Vandermeer drove to an unknown location, the affidavit said.
Cousins told Vandermeer to stop at an abandoned building, where he took Turrentine and Jones out of the truck, into the abandoned building and shot them, the affidavit said.
Cousins spoke to police and confirmed that he was at Bill’s Auto Sales on Monday morning and that Turrentine and Lewis were there, the affidavit said. He also told police that Turrentine gave him two checks for two different vehicles. Cousins said he arrived at the business Monday in a gold Toyota Avalon and left in the two-tone Ford. He also denied being involved in the deaths of all three victims, the affidavit said.
Police did not release information about the third person they interviewed. It is unclear if that person faces any charges.
Cousins was taken into custody Tuesday evening and was being held at the Fort Worth jail, with bail set at $1 million. Vandermeer was arrested Wednesday afternoon, with no bail set as of Wednesday evening.
Both Cousins and Vandermeer are being charged with capital murder. Cousins is being held on a $1 million bond.
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