Fourth man arrested in 2019 murders

Clair McFarland, Riverton Ranger via Wyoming News Exchange
Posted 12/20/21

A 19-year-old St. Stephen’s man has been charged as the primary actor in the 2019 shooting deaths of Jocelyn Watt and Rudy Perez in Riverton.

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Fourth man arrested in 2019 murders

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RIVERTON — A 19-year-old St. Stephen’s man has been charged as the primary actor in the 2019 shooting deaths of Jocelyn Watt and Rudy Perez in Riverton.

The pair were found dead by small-caliber gunshot on Jan. 4, 2019, in a Riverton apartment on the 1100 block of North Federal Boulevard. 

The man accused of shooting them both is Brandon Donald Monroe, who was 16 at the time. 

He is being charged with first-degree murder, or felony murder in the alternative. 

Monroe’s co-defendants were charged last week as well. 

According to an evidentiary affidavit filed in Riverton Circuit Court on Dec. 10, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation special agent Juliet Fish interviewed 17-year-old Patrick James SunRhodes on Dec. 9 of this year. 

SunRhodes also is charged with felony murder in the case for his alleged involvement. According to court documents, SunRhodes told Fish that, late in the evening on Jan. 3, 2019, he was at his home in Fremont County, and was contacted by now-18-year-old Korbin Headley, who was then 15, asking if SunRhodes wanted to get some alcohol. 

SunRhodes was 14 at the time. 

Headley is charged with aggravated burglary in this case. 

SunRhodes told Fish he met with Headley and with Bryce Teran, who was then 22. 

Teran is charged with felony murder for his alleged involvement in the case as well. 

SunRhodes said the three went to a home on the Wind River Indian Reservation that night, and he met Monroe at that location. 

Monroe came to the vehicle the three were in and told Headley to get in the back, court documents state; Monroe sat in the front passenger seat, and the four drank alcohol together.

Monroe went into the home and “came back out with methamphetamine and a firearm,” court documents relate. 

SunRhodes described the weapon as being of older style and having a wooden stock.

Monroe “used the methamphetamine,” related SunRhodes, adding that Monroe was wearing gloves and saying he needed to “go take care of business.” 

The four males drove to a home near City Park in Riverton, in a red pickup truck, with Teran driving, according to the documents. 

Monroe remained in the passenger seat, and Headley and SunRhodes sat in the back. 

“On the way there,” SunRhodes recalled, “Monroe described that he had bleached the bullets so he wouldn’t leave fingerprints.” 

Monroe loaded bullets into the firearm, and SunRhodes said he asked Headley, who knew the other males well, if SunRhodes could go home. Headley reported back that Headley had said no.

Once they arrived, they parked in an alley near the home, documents state. 

Monroe, “noting that Headley was too drunk,” told SunRhodes, “Come wit’ me (expletive).”

Monroe walked to the back door of the home and slammed his shoulder into it several times until it broke open, court documents state. 

SunRhodes followed Monroe into the apartment, and while SunRhodes remained in the living room and kitchen area of the home, Monroe went into another room, documents state.

SunRhodes heard “a few gunshots” in that room, and he walked in to find a woman lying face down on the floor next to the bed, with Monroe straddling another male, who was lying down in the bedroom closet, court documents state. 

SunRhodes said he saw the man on the floor hold his right hand up, trying to struggle with Monroe, who said “get the (expletive) off me.” 

SunRhodes saw Monroe shoot the man in the head, then pick up a shotgun from the floor in the closet, according to the documents. 

SunRhodes then ran out of the house and back to the truck. 

Monroe also ran out of the house “several minutes later.” 

Monroe said to Teran, “go, man, go,” and the four drove away. 

SunRhodes later saw Monroe with the shotgun, documents state. 

Fish wrote that law enforcement has been aware since Jan. 5, 2019, that Watt and Perez were killed with a small-caliber firearm in the bedroom SunRhodes described. 

Their autopsies, combined with SunRhodes’ statements, places their time of death in the early morning hours of Jan. 4, 2019. 

In the spring or summer of that year, SunRhodes recalled, Headley approached him and asked to speak with him alone. 

When they were alone, Headley told SunRhodes, “you kept it real,” and, “you did your part,” and that Monroe and another person were “going to take the fall” for the incident, court documents state.