Five arrested in beating death of teen in Baytown

Five teenagers, including four high school students, have been arrested and charged with murder in the beating death of an 18-year-old, Baytown police said today.

The five beat Kevin Jerome Powell of Baytown to death, police spokesman Lt. Eric Freed said, because they thought he had broken the window one of their vehicles. The five and Powell had an ongoing feud, Freed said.

Powell’s body was found on Monday between a hedge and a truck parked in the 600 block of Massey Tompkins, at the Tompkins Green Apartments. He had been beaten, police said.

Arrested that night were La Porte residents Marcus Jason, 18, a student at Dewalt Alternative School; Joshua Rider, 19, a student at Blinn College; Joshua Ashford, 17, an 11th-grader at La Porte High School and Charles Merritt, 18, who also attends La Porte High. Cedrick Fears, 18, a Baytown resident who attends High Point High School, was also arrested.

The five have been charged with murder. They are in the Harris County Jail, with bonds set at $100,000 each.

Powell was visiting a friend at an apartment complex in the 500 block of Massey Tompkins late Sunday, Freed said. The five were also visiting a friend at the same complex. The five heard a commotion, went outside and saw that the window of Ashford’s 1995 Buick Roadmaster had been broken.

At 7 a.m. Monday, a resident leaving a nearby apartment complex saw Powell’s body.

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