2 Carthage men charged as accomplices in slaying of Monett man
Jun. 15—CASSVILLE, Mo. — Two Carthage men are facing murder charges as accomplices in the drug-related robbing and slaying of a 25-year-old Monett man.
Barry County Circuit Court records state Jonathan Renteria-Marquez, 20, and Carlos Manuel Gutierrez, 19, of Carthage, were arrested last week in connection with the fatal shooting of Daylon Anderson.
Anderson's body was discovered May 28 in a field near farm roads 2140 and 1078 near Butterfield. A probable-cause affidavit filed in the case identifies him as an apparent gunshot victim.
Another Monett resident, Dillon R. Williams, 21, was developed as a suspect in the case early in an investigation by Barry County sheriff's detectives and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a firearm.
Renteria-Marquez and Gutierrez were not taken into custody until more than a week later on June 7 based on the account of a witness and a recording of a call that Gutierrez placed to someone in the Jasper County Jail implicating them in the crime, according to a second affidavit filed in the case.
The two from Carthage were charged the following day with second-degree murder, second-degree robbery and tampering with evidence. Held initially at the Jasper County Jail, they were transported Thursday to the Barry County Jail, where they remain in custody on cash-only bonds of $350,000.
The initial affidavit filed with the charges on Williams had made reference to other suspects believed to be involved in the robbing and killing of Anderson but did not name them. That affidavit states that Williams admitted to investigators that he shot the victim "over drugs and money they wanted to steal from Daylon."
Affidavits filed with the charges on Renteria-Martinez and Gutierrez state that an uncharged witness told investigators that he picked up Williams and the other two suspects near the scene of the crime and that they had Anderson's vehicle at the time.
The witness reported taking the three suspects to the Dollar General store in Monett, where they all got into a Toyota Prius in which they stopped for gas at the Pack & Go store in Monett. The affidavits state video obtained from the store for the night of the slaying shows Williams in the driver's seat of the Prius, the witness in the front passenger seat and Renteria-Marquez having been in the seat behind the driver.
The witness told investigators that Gutierrez was crouched down on the floorboard behind the front passenger seat making a phone call to someone in the county jail.
The affidavits suggest that the witness was uncertain of the names of the two men in Williams' company, but Williams had identified the second man as Gutierrez.
The documents further reveal that investigators obtained a recording of the call Gutierrez is believed to have placed to a jail inmate. During the course of the call, he purportedly told the person that he could not tell what had happened because he knew the call was being recorded and it could send him to prison.
The witness told investigators that Williams and his accomplices burned their shoes, hooded sweatshirts and the victim's wallet after the slaying.
A detective wrote in the affidavits that the two suspects from Carthage were in possession of the same Toyota Prius when they were stopped and arrested June 7.
The affidavits filed with the charges on the two Carthage men also reveal that a second witness told investigators that he had given Anderson $400 to buy some marijuana that night and that Williams said Renteria-Marquez and Gutierrez took all the money and marijuana they stole from Anderson back to Carthage after the crime.
