Second Teenager Arrested in Houston Migrant Kidnapping Case

HOUSTON (AP) — A second teenager was accused of kidnapping several migrants and allegedly holding them captive for several days at a Houston hotel before they were rescued by FBI agents during a standoff that ended in the shooting death of another suspect, authorities said Monday.

Demarcus Celestine, 17, was charged Saturday with three counts of aggravated kidnapping, according to court records.

Her arrest was made public Monday in a tweet from the Houston FBI office, which said Celestine had been arrested by FBI agents and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston.

Celestine, who appeared in court Monday, remained jailed on bond totaling $300,000.

An attorney for Celestine did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment.

Authorities allege the kidnapping began March 18 in neighboring Waller County when three immigrants traveling on Interstate 10 were stopped and forced out of a vehicle.

The driver of the migrants may have called 911 and informed the Waller County Sheriff’s Office about the kidnapping, authorities said. The sheriff’s office later worked with the FBI to find the migrants.

Prosecutors allege that Celestine took the migrants, two women and one man, at gunpoint to a north Houston hotel, “where she held them under threat of death by firearm, sending messages to family members to bring money in exchange for their release.” according to court records.

Celestine is charged, along with two other suspects, with “using physical violence” against the migrants while they were held for several days.

A person familiar with the matter previously told The Associated Press that the kidnappers were paid after making demands for money, but later asked for more money. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case publicly, also said the kidnappers at one point sent a video to the family of one of the migrants, who had crossed into the United States illegally from Mexico. showing them beating up an older man.

On March 23, five days after the migrants were abducted, FBI agents rescued the migrants from the hotel. One of the suspects, later identified as 20-year-old Alberto Montes II, was fatally shot. Montes’s parents told KTRK earlier this month that they are still seeking answers from authorities about why his son was fatally shot. The FBI investigation into the shooting is ongoing, agency spokesman Connor Hagan said.

Another suspect, Josiah Jackson, 17, has been charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping. Jackson remained jailed on bonds totaling $200,000.

Associated Press writer Jake Bleiberg contributed to this report from Dallas.