Texas Man Charged With Murder In Slaying Of Fort Hood Private

A Texas man has been taken into custody and charged with murdering a Fort Hood soldier last spring.

According to a police affidavit, Brandon Michael Olivares, 28, was riding in 27-year-old Pfc. Brandon Scott Rosecrans’ Jeep Renegade on May 18 when he allegedly shot the soldier and dumped his body on the side of a road in Harker Heights, a city near Fort Hood, San Antonio’s KSAT-TV reported.

The burnt-out vehicle was found around four miles away from the victim’s body.

On Aug. 5, following an extensive investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Olivares, who was already in custody at the Bell County Jail. County records indicate he had been charged in an unrelated case at the beginning of June with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

“This is not over,” Rosecrans’ father, Thomas Berg, told the Statesman. “It is a victory, but at the same time this is just a piece of news until we can put this all together.”

“The arrest just gave us even more questions,” Berg added.

Authorities have not revealed a possible motive for the shooting. Olivares is being held on $1.1 million bond at the Bell County Jail.

Rosecrans’ murder is reportedly just one of at least five deaths of Fort Hood soldiers involving suspected foul play over the past several months.

“The numbers are high here,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on Aug. 6 of the crime rate, according to the Army Times. “They are the highest, in most cases, for sexual assault and harassment and murders for our entire formation — the U.S. Army.”

McCarthy said an independent review would be launched to identify “root causes associated with the rise of felonies, violent acts [and] to better understand why this is happening at this installation.”

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