Non-death penalty capital murder trial set in 2020 East Lubbock double homicide

A 29-year-old San Angelo man faces an upgraded charge of capital murder in the 2020 shooting deaths of two people during what investigators believe was a drug-deal-turned-robbery in east Lubbock.

Lubbock County grand jurors on Tuesday returned a new indictment charging Edward Wilson with capital murder in connection with the July 1, 2020 deaths of 31-year-old Michael Carson and 64-year-old Gregory Tubbs at a home in the 300 block of Beech Avenue.

Wilson, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since Aug. 7, 2020, was initially set to stand trial Sept. 23 in the 364th District Court on two counts of murder, which carries a punishment of five years to life in prison.

A trial for the capital murder charge was set Tuesday for Sept. 30.

Capital murder typically carries a punishment of life in prison without parole or the death penalty. However, Lubbock County District Attorney Sunshine Stanek said her office will not be pursuing the death penalty in the case.

Wilson's attorney, Fred Stangl, said the development was expected.

"We kind of figured it would happen at some point," he said. "It doesn't change the way we're going to try the case."

Investigating a deadly shooting

Wilson's charge stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation that began after Lubbock police officers responded to a shots fired call in the area and found Carson and Tubbs inside a home dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

A witness told Lubbock Metro Special Crimes investigators that Carson was supposed to meet with two people from San Angelo to sell them crack cocaine, according to an arrest warrant.

Investigators inspecting Carson’s phone found phone numbers he was in contact with around the time of the shooting. One of the numbers contacted via Carson’s phone before the shooting was listed as “John Doe” with a San Angelo address, that he later learned was Wilson’s from 2002 to 2018, the warrant states.

Another witness told the investigator that he was walking down the street by the residence when a white four-door car pulled into the driveway of the home. The witness said he recognized the vehicle as Carson’s. Carson and Tubbs exited the vehicle and went inside the house.

Meanwhile, the witness said a Black man exited a white SUV parked nearby and came in the house after Carson and Tubbs. He said he saw a Hispanic woman with long hair in the driver’s seat of the SUV, the warrant states.

The witness told the investigators he continued walking but heard what he believed to be gunshots about three to four minutes later. He turned and saw the Black man running out of the house clutching something in front of his belly and got into the SUV, which sped off.

A third witness told investigators she was at the MLK Park in San Angelo on July 5, 2020, and heard Wilson and another man bragging to a crowd of people, who were mostly their family members, about going to Lubbock to rob Carson and Tubbs, the warrant states.

She said the men told the crowd that something happened during the robbery and the two men got shot and they ended up stealing money and drugs, the warrant states.

The third witness said Wilson always carried a black handgun and said she witnessed another shooting at the park on Juneteenth during which Wilson was in a gun battle with another man.

A U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent compared the shell casings recovered from the June 20, 2020 park shooting with the ones from Carson and Tubbs' shootings.

"The shell casings from the shooting in San Angelo were a positive match to the shell casings recovered at the scene of the murders of Carson and Tubbs," the warrant states.

The witness stated Wilson and the other man, who has not been arrested, are often with a long-haired Hispanic female who drives a small white SUV.

In 2022, Lubbock police arrested Bobby Gasca and Camri Huitt in connection with the case.

Gasca, 25, was initially charged with capital murder. However, the charge was dropped in August 2022 after a grand jury declined to return an indictment against him.

Meanwhile, Huitt, 31, was charged with a misdemeanor count of failing to report a felony, which is still pending in Lubbock County Court at Law 1.

Wilson remains held at the Lubbock County Detention Center. His bond is set at $500,000.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: San Angelo man faces upgraded capital murder charge in Lubbock killings