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Ranji Charles, a Dallas man implicated in two early Sunday morning murders in southern Dallas, is in critical condition at Methodist Central Hospital, police say.
Charles is alleged to have been riding in a car with two men — Corey Shannon and Elliot Byes — when the trio pulled into the Raceway gas station near the intersection of Interstate 35 and Ledbetter Drive in a gray Ford Taurus.
At the station, surveillance video shows Charles getting out of the car and popping the trunk and grabbing something, before heading to the passenger side window to talk to Shannon.
Witnesses told police they heard Charles and Shannon argue and then a single gunshot. Then, two witnesses parked near the Taurus saw Charles and Byes haul Shannon’s body out of the car.
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Byes has told police that he helped Charles remove the body because the suspect was holding a gun to his side and that he observed a gunshot wound to Shannon’s head. After removing Shannon, Charles demanded that two of the witnesses give him their cell phones. Surveillance video shows the pair refusing, until Charles retrieves his gun. Charles left the station in the Taurus with two new phones and Byes left on foot.
About a half-hour later, at 3:56 a.m., a 911 operator received a call that a vehicle had crashed into a fence on Cockrell Hill Road. When witnesses went to check on the car’s driver, they told 911, he leveled a gun at them and told them to “be gone.”
As Dallas Fire and Rescue approached the car, a gray Ford Taurus, they heard a single gunshot, according to police. Paramedics retreated, and police blocked off the area. After ordering the driver to get out of the car, police took the driver — Charles, who had a gunshot wound to his face — into custody.
In the car, police found Charles’ wallet and driver’s license, a .45-caliber handgun and two spent shell casings.
Detectives say details also point to Charles being a suspect in another murder that happened earlier Sunday morning.
