On the evening of March 19, 2024, officers from the Beaumont Police Department responded to shots fired in the 4100 block of Chaison Avenue and found 17-year-old Ta’Dran Amon Carmon inside a white 2015 Kia Optima that had been backed into a yard. Carmon, a senior at Beaumont United High School, was pronounced dead at the scene and Justice of the Peace Ransom Jones ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Investigators identified 19-year-old Beaumont resident Koy Wayne Dodd Jr. as a suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest with bond set at $975,000; authorities described him as armed and dangerous and asked the public for help locating him. Subsequent information named 16-year-old Jayleen Westbrook as allegedly involved in a plot to rob Carmon at gunpoint the night he was killed; both Dodd and Westbrook were later indicted for first-degree murder and held on $975,000 bonds.

Carmon’s death shook the Beaumont community and his high school, where he was remembered as a student nearing graduation. If anyone has information about the night of March 19 or knew Ta’Dran, please come forward and share what you know.