Clothing left at 2008 San Angelo homicide leads to two arrests, details emerge

SAN ANGELO — Over a decade after a San Angelo father-to-be died, the case quickly heated up with two arrests in 17 days. Court documents released Thursday revealed new details about what led to the death of Jordan Holden in 2008.

About 1:10 a.m. July 20, 2008, a man sat on his front porch in the 2500 block of West Beauregard Avenue as a "dark-colored" sedan rolled past his house and parked nearby. Two men left the car and at least one put on "a dark cap or ski mask type head covering," according to the resident's testimony to police.

About 12 minutes later, police arrived in the 2500 block of West Harris Avenue after the resident heard gunshots. 

Four friends, one of whom lived on Harris Avenue, had returned from a night out. The homeowner knew they could not enter through the front door, since the key had broken off in the lock, records state. He went through a front window and met two intruders, according to the affidavit.

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The homeowner yelled a warning to the others and two of the friends entered through the front window. Both of the friends met gunfire and one shot struck Jordan Holden in the abdomen, records state.

The soon-to-be father died at the Shannon Medical Center emergency room. His girlfriend was 3 months pregnant at the time.

The two men ran out the backdoor, and the Beauregard man saw the same men enter the sedan and flee toward Angelo State University, according to court documents.

The case heated up about 12 years later, after police charged Patrick Stewart Jr., 32, of Katy, in connection to the homicide. Just 17 days later, police arrested Raymond Andrew-Lee Rice, 32, in Allen. 

"Jordan Holden had a child on the way when he was murdered," said Frank Carter, SAPD chief of police in an April news release. "We cannot give that child his father back, but we hope this arrest brings peace and closure to the family."

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Clothes left at house lead to arrests 12 years later

Investigators believed the intruders entered through a back window, which had been damaged. The intruders also left behind a black toboggan and a black Nike shoe, records state.

Officers took the clothing for DNA testing and received an indirect match from a man with a 20-year-old son at the time. In November 2016, investigators received and executed a search warrant to get a sample of the the son's DNA. 

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The DNA was over 34 "quadrillion times more likely" to have come from Stewart than anyone else, according to the affidavit.

In 2008, Stewart had attended Angelo State University and worked at a car wash. On June 28, 2008, a man took his vehicle to the car wash and later noticed his Kel-Tec .380 disappeared from his car.

The man told police the gun was loaded, and bullets matching the gun were used in the shooting, according to court documents. Stewart was working the day the gun went missing, records show.

Alana Edgin is a journalist covering Crime and Courts in West Texas. Send her a news tip at aedgin@gannett.com.