Chuoke III scheduled to enter plea in murder of his father • Son of prominent Galveston County businessman jailed on murder charges for almost 2 years Mitchell Chuoke III, who has been in the Kimble County jail since May 2022 charged with his father, Mitchell Chuoke Jr.’s murder, is scheduled to enter a plea on Tuesday (3/26/2024), court officials confirmed. Chuoke III was scheduled to stand trial starting April 23. Attempts to reach Chuoke III’s attorney, Randy Wilson, were unsuccessful on Wednesday (3/20/2024). A late afternoon email to the 452nd District Court District Attorney Tonya Ahlschwede was not returned as of 5:30 PM. Mitchell Chuoke Jr. was a prominent Galveston County businessman and president of the family’s commercial plumbing company. He and his son were at the Chuoke Ranch near Junction on May 20, 2022, when Chuoke Jr. was shot and killed, a ranch staffer told police. Chuoke III left the ranch after the shooting and was taken into custody by deputies who were on the way to the ranch in response to the shooting, according to an affidavit used to file the murder charge. Junction is located 114 miles northwest of San Antonio. Neither the Sheriff's office, court records, nor the Texas DPS have indicated what led to the shooting. Based on the interview with Chuoke III and the shooting witness, Texas Ranger Terry Eaton filed a criminal affidavit accusing the younger Chuoke of “knowingly shooting” his father. Eaton went on to write the younger Chuoke “confessed” to killing his father. The younger Chuoke has been held on a $1 million bail since his arrest. It is unconfirmed if he has had any contact with his family since his arrest. Chuoke is scheduled to be in court at 1:30 PM Tuesday. i45NOW will be in the courtroom as we have since the first hearing two years ago.

Posted by i45NOW TJ Aulds at 2024-03-20 22:31:30 UTC