PONTOTOC COUNTY, Okla. – A rap video posted online lead to charges against two murder suspects in Pontotoc County.
It was actually two teen boys rapping about shooting up Byng Junior School.
But, the video led police to a key piece of evidence in an open case.
The sheriff said, if it hadn’t been for that rap video, this murder may have never been solved.
Investigators searched the home of one of the boys who made the video and, when they got there, they found a shell casing linked to a murder from September of last year.
The rap video had sheriff’s deputies worried about the safety of everyone at Byng Junior High.
“[He said] he had an AR 15, and he was going to go to the school and shoot up some people,” said Pontotoc County Sheriff John Christian.
The video has been taken down.
Investigators got a search warrant for the home of one of the boys to see if he really did have a gun.
That led them to Sheila Arles’ home in Ada.
Deputies didn’t find an AR 15 inside, but they did find a critical piece of evidence in another unsolved case.
“In the course of doing the search warrant, as we turned one of the couches over, there was a shell casing underneath the couch, and we knew it matched the caliber of the Prado case,” Christian said.
Prado is Jose Prado, a man found dead in his trailer less than 10 minutes from Arles’ home.
It happened in late September.
Prado was shot to death.
Investigators didn’t have a suspect in the murder until the OSBI tested the shell casing found in Arles’ home.
“Each gun has a specific marking that they’ll look for and, in this case they matched up,” Christian said.
Investigators interviewed Arles and her son, Ben McIntosh.
Eventually, they confessed to Prado’s murder.
According to court documents, Arles wanted Prado to pay her for sex.
Then, she and McIntosh decided to rob him.
Deputies said McIntosh, who’s 18, pulled the trigger.
“It was a real shock to find out she had done this, and her kids were involved,” said neighbor Stephanie Cates.
Arles and McIntosh are both charged with conspiracy and murder.
They’re being held without bond in Pontotoc County.
A third person, Anthony DeShawn Franklin, was arrested for helping dispose of the gun that killed Prado.