Jehu Patrick Flores, a 30-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was living in Austin, Texas, in the spring of 2023. His life was cut short in an act of violence that would remain hidden for months.
On or around April 1, 2023, Flores was at a transient camp located in the West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt, behind a clothing store on South Lamar Boulevard. According to witnesses, he got into an argument with another man, 24-year-old Melcolm Martin Lee. The dispute escalated, and Lee allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Flores once in the back of the head.
After the shooting, Lee reportedly enlisted the help of 47-year-old Billy John Lamar to conceal the crime. The two men moved Flores’s body from the camp and buried him in a hole deeper within the greenbelt. For over seven months, Flores’s fate remained unknown to authorities.
The case broke open on November 27, 2023, when two witnesses came forward and told Austin police investigators where Flores’s body was buried.
Two days later, officers and a search and rescue K-9 unit went to the area and discovered skeletal remains. The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, with assistance from the Texas State Anthropology Department, confirmed the remains belonged to Jehu Patrick Flores and ruled his death a homicide.
On December 12, 2023, a warrant was issued for Melcolm Lee’s arrest. Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and U.S. Marshals located him on December 20 at an encampment in Mable Davis Park. Lee attempted to flee but was quickly captured and taken into custody. He was booked into the Travis County Jail and charged with murder. Billy John Lamar was also arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence and failure to report human remains.
The investigation continued into the following year. In August 2024, Austin police announced they had issued a felony warrant for a third suspect, 33-year-old Tyler Steven Lompe, on a charge of tampering with human remains in connection with the concealment of Flores's body. Lompe was arrested and booked into the Travis County Jail on that charge in February 2025. As of that month, the case was proceeding through the legal system.
