The morning after rapper BTB Savage died in Houston, police in New Braunfels, Texas arrested one of the men now wanted for his murder but that was for an unrelated drug charge, and before they had enough evidence to charge him in the rapper’s death.
Houston Police announced a warrant for the arrest of 40-year-old Montrel Burley on Friday for murder. He was arrested on Monday around 9 p.m.
SEE ALSO: One suspect in rapper BTB Savage’s murder in River Oaks area identified
Court documents obtained by KPRC 2 spell out an elaborate plan that led up to the death of 26-year-old Darrell Gentry, known as rapper BTB Savage, on March 30 in Houston’s River Oaks area.
Four days before his death, documents revealed that Burley rented a black Subaru Outback with Florida license plates from an Avis in San Antonio.
Then, on March 29 about 26 hours before the fatal shooting, the Subaru with Florida plates was picked up on a license plate reader traveling eastbound along I-10 in the Fayette County area.
A couple of hours later, around 7 p.m. the night before the shooting, investigators believe the plates on the Subaru were swapped with plates from a stolen Kia out of Harris County, which was scanned again on the Subaru at least 10 minutes after the shooting.
The Florida license plates were then put back on the Subaru and picked up about an hour and 40 minutes after the shooting while traveling westbound on I-10, according to documents.
SEE ALSO: Houston rapper believed to have been killed in drive-by shooting near River Oaks area
For about four hours the night before and for about four hours during the day leading up to the shooting, Burley’s cell phone data pinged in the area of BTB Savage’s apartment in the 2000 block of Westcreek Lane.
“They’re going to start out with a two-touchdown spread and they’ll be able to use whatever the law permits in terms of legal or scientific developments that will make sure that while you think you can run, you can’t hide,” KPRC 2 Legal Analyst Brian Wice said about the investigative techniques utilized by detectives.
License plate readers caught the rented Subaru traveling back toward San Antonio in the moments after the 6:10 p.m. shooting. Cell phone data eventually showed Burley back at his New Braunfels home around 11 p.m.
By the next morning, investigators had a search warrant for the rented Subaru. When New Braunfels police and its SWAT unit were moving in to execute the search warrant, the Subaru began driving away and was stopped about 100 feet from the home, according to documents.
Burley was riding as the passenger as his fiancée drove. He was arrested on a drug possession charge, according to documents.
New Braunfels Police Department has not responded to KPRC 2′s request for comment about the circumstances surrounding the arrest, how long he was in custody, or why he was released.
Houston Police investigators interviewed Burley at that time of his arrest in Comal County when he told them he wasn’t with the Subaru around the time of the shooting. Burley asked for an attorney when questioned about who he let use the car.
The Houston murder warrant didn’t come for another week after cell phone data was reviewed.
“If all they have is reasonable suspicion and not probable cause, you cannot be held beyond that 72-hour time frame unless and until charges are filed,” Wice said.
According to the documents, Burley is a known and documented gang member who was friends with a man killed by BTB Savage and his fiancée at their San Antonio apartment in February.
San Antonio Police said the man tried to rob the couple at gunpoint in their apartment, when they shot and killed him in a homicide ruled justifiable.
BTB Savage spoke about the experience in an interview with VLADTV on YouTube, which was published the same day Burley allegedly rented the Subaru that he’s accused of traveling to Houston in to kill the rapper.
BTB Savage’s mother, Bernita Ward, called her son’s death retaliation.
“That interview ... It ignited a fire. It ignited a fire to where they were saying, ‘Oh we’re going to kill you’,” Ward said. “I just want the truth to be told and justice to be served.”
Police have still not identified a second suspect in the case. HPD is asking anyone who knows where Burley is or who the other suspect may be to call Crimestoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
SEE ALSO: ‘Nobody wins here’: Rapper BTB Savage’s mother wants murder suspects to surrender